More remains the same!

Chhath Pooja Malaysia 2025

Every living day is a learning experience. Learnt something new again today that just shoots down the arbitrary cultural divide between the northern and southern regions of India. 

I have known about Kantha Sashti my entire life. Just like how Deepavali/Diwali is celebrated to remind us of the eternal victory of good over evil, whether it is Rama and his entourage's return to Ayodhyā or to fete Krishna's slaying of the demon king, Narasvara, Kantha Sashti is observed to remind us of Skanda's preparation, strategisation and subsequent defeating the demon Surapatman. It is celebrated after Deepavali, in the month of Aipasi/Karthik corresponding to October/November in the Gregorian calendar, usually within the week of Deepavali. The fast lasts six days, usually starting on or a day after Deepavali and ending on the sixth day of the waning moon.

Now, I have discovered that this sixth day of the waning phase of the month is also an important day for Hindus across Bihar, Jharkhand, the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Nepal. It is the day to pay respects to Surya, the Sun God and Chhata Maiya, the sixth form of Prakriti, the primary substance of anything. (Contrasted to Purusha, which is awareness). In the regions mentioned above, this Pooja holds an even more significant part in the hearts of Hindus than Diwali. 

Lord Murugan @ Skanda

Chhath Pooja involves a gruelling fast, which requires abstaining from food and water from dusk on the fourth day of the month through to dawn on the sixth, for at least 36 hours. Some push the limit by having food restrictions even before the finale.

There seems to be a particular fixation with the number six and the Sun God in both these celebrations, even though they are celebrated in regions quite poles apart. The climax of both celebrations is on the sixth day. Lord Muruga was born as six babies to be nursed by six Krittikas, celestial nursemaids.

Now, Chhath is called Chhath (six in Sanskrit) because it refers to the sixth day of the waning moon. Sashthi in Skanda Sashthi refers to the same number six as an aberration of Chhat.

Just as Chhath Puja is a celebration to show homage to the Sun for its innumerable contributions to life on Earth, Skanda Sashti has its connections to the Sun too. The seed of life that emanated from Shiva was so powerful that it had to be transported by Agni, the Fire God, a representation of the Sun God himself. This powerful flash of life split into six babies, to be cared for by six Krittikas, the cluster of stars corresponding to the Pleiades in Western astronomy. In Hindu astrology, the Krittikas are ruled by the Sun. 

The more we try to say we are different, the more we realise we are all the same. One fasts up North to show gratitude to Nature, and another down South to prepare oneself to face the contemporary challenges of the world. Coincidentally, both celebrations happen on the sixth day of the waning moon just after Deepavali. It must be more than a sheer coincidence!

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Then what?

Anand Kumar and his students

My brother from a different father and mother sent me a mail recently about a certain Mathematics tutor from Patna, Bihar, who would tutor students pro bono for them to pass the coveted Indian Institute of Technology entrance examinations. He hand picks a group of 30, motivates them, arranges hostel facilities, cooks healthy meals and literally drills them day and night to achieve 100% pass rate.
The students swarms in from remote and impoverished regions of the land to slog it out for about 7 months with the sole intention of passing the test. A pass, to them, is the panacea of their woes. A rewarding career and perhaps a post in a multinational company or even an overseas posting is a sure way to uplift their living conditions and their immediate loved ones. 

The spill over effect can be seen even to the relatives whose background and caste is irrelevant anymore. I can relate to the hopeful eyes of the illiterate parents who put all their hope, putting aside their difficulties and poverty, to educate their offspring. In the year that the documentary was shot, 29 of the 30 students passed their exams.

Audience with President Kallam

A little melodrama occurs after that. You can watch it below if you have the time.

So what happens afterwards? The teenagers go on to IIT, get a comfortable job, parents continue their  tortuous job albeit at a less strenuous pace. Then what? They get married, perhaps stay in a big mansion or migrate to a developed country and enjoy the fruit of their labour. They themselves would have offsprings who after growing up guarded against poverty and shielded from harsh reality of needing to acquire street-smartness and survival skills, would think that it is their birthright to demand for luxuries that their parents tried to offer to the kids. Whatever they missed, they did not want their children not to have.

On the part of the children, hard work and motivation would be alien vocabularies. They would talk about enjoying life. having a complete life, not to miss out on finer things of life and the now well renowned phrase of that it is their life and they can live any which way that they please!

In the immortal words of Confucius, wealth in a family would only last 3 generations. And the cycle of life would go back to square one!