Navratri in previous years meant absolute devotion and traditional Garba dance in front of the idols of Goddess Durga. The traditional and melodious music and songs of Garba left every individual swinging and dancing.

However on this money-oriented earth of ours which has not even spared our idols and religious celebrations, there has been a complete face lifts of this sacred festival. While earlier the whole festival revolved around Goddess Durga and celebrations were held surrounding her but now slowly and steadily Maa-Durga is being completely sidelined.

Adulteration of this pure festival is at an all time high. Earlier Navratri was a means for the common men to get close and offer their loyalties to their beloved Goddess Durga. But now it is all commercialized.

Following points can be seen:

1. From family functions in ‘Chok’ (verandah) it has now being shifted to big grounds and auditorium.

2. Big business houses have come up and have made it another profit vending machine.

The purity and holiness of this festival is being completely lost.

3. Many business firms sponsor the navratri events. The whole of Puja Pandals are covered with the advertisements of the sponsors. They have taken this event as another opportunity for marketing and selling their products.

4. The latest trend is inviting Bollywood and T.V. celebrities to host or perform at these events. These celebrities charge huge prices for attending such events.  The sponsors not only put expensive garba tickets but also sell them in black.

5. People also regard it as a status symbol to attend such events. The higher the entry fees, higher their social status.

These people have left nothing from food to music to dresses. Everything is now new, modern and more liberalized.

Dohkla, Thepla and traditional food is replaced by pizza, burgers and chow mien. The whole of the dancing arena is surrounded by shops and stalls of food and beverages.

Traditional Garba and folk songs have been transformed to loud and absurd music. Together with hindi movie songs hip-hop, jazz, fusion and even salsa music is being played. With this kind of music one cannot accept the regular Garba and Dandiya. So dances have also changed, people now perform all kind of dances like bhangra, Disco etc.

This modernization has also witnessed a shift in outlook and thinking of the youngsters. They find Navratras a perfect time to indulge into unethical and immoral activities. Nobody bothers about traditional dresses and attire while performing garba and dandiya, they wear anything from casual jeans t-shirt to even skirts, which actually doesn’t look either cool or sophisticated.

Change is the rule of life but changes should not be accepted and adopted blindly. So enjoy this Navratri in its true sense and spirit, don’t let this selfish world get over your mind.