Gatari - An Urban Myth or a Misnomer ?


Gatari – The misnomer?

 

Every year, whether you celebrate it or not, this festival of Gatari is always spoken about with tongue in cheek remarks, followed by knowing laughter & smiles all around. Even the most conservative of Maharashtrian families will not shy to say, “So what’s special for Gatari tomorrow?”  …. outwardly referring to non-veg delicacies but implicitly suggesting the consumption of alcohol. The Uncles knowingly winking & the youngsters trying to avoid their gaze, is a far too common sight.

The very concept of eating, drinking, making merry and falling off in a “gutter” was completely unacceptable to me and so it would seem to a lot many more people like me. Hence, I decided to Google search – “Gatari meaning” and the immediate response that came back was:

“Gatari Amavasya is essentially a celebration to drink and eat to your heart's content so that you don't have the urge to do so during Shravan. It falls on a moonless night and people are generally awake and out all night to celebrate.”

https://www.india.com/travel/articles/gatari-amavasya-2016-what-is-gatari-amavasya-and-why-it-is-celebrated-3232968/

 

Not content with this, I Googled again : Gatari meaning :

It's derived from "katari" and when you see it in a title like that it can be interpreted as "tale" or story if you will. Katana-gatari = tale of swords.

 

Then I Googled:  What is Gatari called in English?

/gaṭara/ mn. gutter countable noun. The gutter is the edge of a road next to the pavement, where rain collects and flows away.

 

But hold on, I tell myself. Shravan is an auspicious month, that much I know. On the 1st day of Shravan, aadi Amavasya is observed & a puja is performed. Only a few festivals like Diwali, is celebrated on Amavasya & deep puja is performed. Another thought that came to mind was, when this festival first started, maybe, 100’s of years ago, English influence of the word “Gutter” could not have crept into the Maharashtrian vocabulary.

Google was not helping & so with the help of some of my aunts & grannies and some Marathi literature, I finally came up with this explanation, which seems more logical & plausible.

 

The (in) famous Gatari is actually Gatāhāri.

Gatāhār, not gutter!

Gat = previous, old. Ahar = food

This day is called Gatāhāri (the diet that is gone) Amavasya.

 

The English word gutter is unfortunately and infamously linked to this festival.

This Sunday 8th August 2021 is Shravan / Deep Amavasya.

Deep Puja is performed on this day with great devotion in millions of houses of all castes in Maharashtra.

Our religion, which has a tradition of thousands of years, also includes the science behind it.

This rainy day, today, underscores the need to abstain from eating meat and how far-sighted our ancestors have planned this practice. Some scientific and maintaining of ecological balance facts emerge, but I will save that for later. Suffice to say, during the monsoons – most of the animals have their breeding season, most fisherfolks also do not venture out in the sea for religious as well as safety reasons, the variety in the vegetables is up, the general body resistance goes down, it’s not easier to digest heavy foods during humid rainy climate & many more such things. 

Personally, I look at it as a path shown by our ancestors to abstain from excess for a month and get the body system in rhythm all over again. Most religions have this & such practices, and our ancestors were wise enough to stitch a nice narrative & a festival / holy feeling around it, so that the acceptance is easier & more wide-spread.

I do hope that I am able to debunk a few URBAN MYTHS on Gatari and in the process, help avoid the infamy of the gutters and their needless association with a very meaningful festival!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHY RIP IS NOT THE CORRECT FORM OF CONDOLENCE TO A HINDU FAMILY

WHY RIP IS NOT THE CORRECT FORM OF CONDOLENCE TO A HINDU FAMILY R.I.P means Rest in Peace- In Christianity, this short epitaph signifies wishing rest and peace to someone who has died. Christians bury the dead ones and the soul rests in peace in that grave until the judgment day arrives. On the Judgment day, the Lord will decide who goes where- Heaven or Hell. They believe that on the Judgment day the dead will rise again. Until that time, the soul has to remain inside that coffin. Hence the blessing Rest In Peace (until the judgement day)  Now, Hinduism does not have any concept such as that of the rising of dead ones. Hinduism believes in reincarnation. It says that the cycle of birth and death are governed by the Karma of individuals. The deceased individual would take another birth based upon the Karma of this life. So there is no rest and hence, the concept of RIP is not valid in Hinduism. Hinduism believes in Moksha that is liberation- Liberation from the endless cycles of bi...
Read more
Image
  From rented bicycles to traffic jams Born in the 70s but really speaking, I grew up in the 80s. Back then, having a bicycle was rare. We rented them, by the hour. We paid a few Rupees paise (damn I lived in the age of paisa !!) 50 paise for the hour was it ?? Hop on and the moment your feet touched the pedals, you knew you were in a race against the clock. That thrill of pedalling like mad, not because you were fit or competitive but because your 60 minutes were ticking away ? Priceless. Fast-forward to today :  Nobody rents bicycles. Instead, everyone has at least two cars, three bikes and maybe even a scooter for the maid.  Yet, we still complain about “No Parking.” Zen irony, isn’t it? The more we accumulate, the more space we lose. Funny how abundance creates problems that scarcity never had. The roads we cycled on were narrow, sometimes barely wide enough for a bullock cart and a bus to squeeze past each other. But we managed. Today, the roads are six...
Read more
Image
  Friendship is easy when the drinks are flowing. The real test is when the bills arrive Your struggles have a way of filtering your contact list better than any app. There is this very strange thing about friendship. When life is good, when you are winning, earning, laughing, your phone never stops buzzing. Everyone wants a piece of your sunshine. Drinks flow, pictures click, promises are made. You think you have built your tribe. Then life does the unexpected. You lose your job, relationships fray or success slips through your fingers. That’s when the crowd thins. The people who called themselves friends suddenly find new priorities. The ones who said “Call anytime, let’s catch up” disappear like a flicker. No calls. No “What happened?”.  They don’t try to understand.  They just… disappear. Your struggle doesn’t suit their story. So, the real test isn’t in your best days. It’s when the lights go out. When failure knocks. When you are broke, sick or simply not ...
Read more