Be it beauty, wealth, beliefs or ideologies, to show off is an imbibed quality of most human beings.

When at first man thought of bequeathing a portion of his property to his daughter during her marriage he would never have thought that it would culminate in a mega evil called dowry in due course of time -- the evil that still haunts us.

Three decades ago during Ayyappa puja -- a ritual that used to be conducted before one leaves for Sabarimala -- there used to be distribution of paanagam or jiggery juice 'only' at the end of the event. But today a ‘full meal’ has become the order of the day. People borrow money to conduct the puja, the expense of which is many times the expense for travelling to Sabarimala and back.

Three decades ago there was no holiday on New Year's Day and there were no youths on bikes thronging the roads causing trouble to road users on the previous day. It was a simple prayer offering day. Now, a New Year's eve without a midnight visit to beach with all fanfare is looked upon with disdain.

Visarjanam as the act used to be called in those days is a day when clay statue of Vigneswara used to be dropped in wells or sea between the third and 10th day of Vinayaga Chathurthi. It used to be a simple domestic affair with some pujas during the day after which the clay idol would be immersed in water. This very simple affair has now culminated in a big event capable of creating communal tension, and this year Rs 20-lakh worth silver idol is set to be immersed in deep sea. The police department is doing its best to convince organisers to drop the plan and instead allow the idol to remain inside a temple. The organisers are sticking to their guns.

While one can see the need for congregation of people with certain ideology at certain places, people have to be cautious in not turning it into a problem to the society at large.

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