safety – UdaipurBlog

A Holi Close to Our Roots

Heartiest greetings on the colourful occasion of Holi. We all know the importance of Holi as well as the story behind celebrating Holi as well as Holika Dehen. It dates back to very ancient history and mythology when king Hiranyakashayp ordered his son Prahlad to be burnt who was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap’s sister Holika consented to accompany Prahlad in the fire as she had a blessing that no fire could ever burn her so as to ensure his demise. Holika sat on pyre with Prahalad. Holika burnt alive while Prahalad was saved by the Lord.

But now-a-days we are going far away from our roots, our culture. The traditions have either become a formality, or a commercial venture, or rather an extinct or endangered culture. In deep thoughts about the same, I visited a small village/rural area to find out if the culture still alive, and to my surprise, yes it was.

The place I visited was a developing rural area in the interiors of the village Shobhagpura in Udaipur. This remote area witnessed the concrete roads for the first time just before few months. Here all the villagers and other people live in true harmony. I was welcomed by Mr. Gopal Prasad, an independent journalist, who has settled here in search of peace.

It was about 7.15 in the evening; small girls were seen making rangolis near the location. Village ladies and housewives were seen worshipping the structure. Slowly the crowd started to gather, and as happens every year, the worship and rituals were performed by the eldest person living in the village, who fired up the Holika.

In next few minutes the entire area was filled with light and heat of the huge fire. Mr. Gopal informed that the villagers offer a share of the new harvest of wheat to the fire, and the roasted wheat grains so obtained is distributed to all as the Prasad. Any newborn baby is also made to revolve around the holy fire. It is believed that all the evil forces are burnt away with the fire and the spirit becomes pure and clean.

Eldest member of the Village performing the Rituals

offering the first harvest of wheat to the fire — Offering the first harvest of wheat to the fire

Finally I was happy on my way back home. All i was taking along with me was not only the roasted wheat grains, but were memories, a warm, friendly welcome at the village, more knowledge about our cultures, and an entirely different Holi to remember for the lifetime.

Wishing everyone a very Happy, Colourful and Safe Holi. Enjoy a lot but remember to Save Water 🙂

Safety Comes First

We are greatly delighted that Udaipur has become the preeminent tourist spot in the entire world. Whipping all other cities of the world, Udaipur came to the top in the list of tourist attraction. The lakes like Fateh sagar lake, Lake Pichola, Jaisamand lake, Rajsamand lake provides the best scenic beauty in the globe. The fort of Chittorgarh, Kumbalgarh Fort, The City Palace, The Sajjangarh Palace etc. are the places which reflect the folklore and culture of this city. But still there are some things that we need to improve and implement in our city.

I would like to talk about some problems like the presence of drunkards on the tourist spots and public places. And the need to implement better police service in some isolated areas and lonely places.

Firstly, about the presence of drunkards in public places. As Udaipur is the finest sightseer attraction in the world the safety of tourists is an important thing. We find many people drunk in the public places at any time which is perilous for tourists. The shops of alcohol could be found easily even in the suburban areas which is not good for our society. They do not have the fear of police because cops are not strict enough to stop them. We are in a strong need of eliminating drunkards from the tourist spots and public place for the safety of tourist and the common throng. We must all take initiatives to make everyday a dry day and to make every place a better place.

Next is the need of cops in the isolated areas. By this I mean that we need police services not only on the tourist spots but also to the way to the tourist spots. This is because of the above mentioned reasons. If we find people drunk in public places it’s obvious that we could more easily find them in lonely places. We hear many cases of people being looted on gunpoint and beaten up. These things arise fear into a person’s mind henceforth reducing the sum of tourists in the city. The areas like Rani road, way to Badi lake and various lonely places should be given special attention by the cops to stop such offenses. This will give tourists as well as the local multitude a sense of security, which will provide Udaipur a better review from them and will make this city undefeated in the race of traveler’s appeal.