The ‘Good Friday And Easter Sunday’ Message

Dear Readers,

For all, and especially us Bawas, all Fridays are good, as these herald the weekend. And few other communities do justice to weekends like we do! But yesterday was an even more special Friday, because to most of us, it meant a three-day weekend, instead of the regular two! And whether we’ve decided to stick it out in our hot-and-sweaty Mumbai, or have headed for a welcome, out-of-town weekend break, let’s not allow the deeper message of this blessed weekend to escape us…

But before we start on that, let’s understand that Good Friday goes hand in hand with Easter Sunday, as a holy allusion. However, Good Friday holds greater value for most of us because – let’s be honest – Easter Sunday is already a Sunday, a holiday… you know that ‘bummer’ feeling when Diwali or Holi fall on a Saturday or Sunday. We nearly feel robbed of a holiday when special days don’t add another red-colored date on the calendar. And so it is with Easter Sunday – of course we find immense consolation in those yummy marzipan and chocolate flavoured Easter eggs and bunnies and the heavenly aroma of freshly baked hot-cross buns and a myriad other goodies that our lovely Christian friends and neighbours bring in. But, I digress… Coming back to that message – most of us may already know that Christians observe Good Friday, also known as ‘Holy Friday’, as the day that Jesus was crucified and died on the Holy Cross, sacrificing his life for the sins of man. He was raised to life or resurrected on the third day or the Sunday, post Good Friday. Needless to mention, while it is great to wish our Christian friends a Happy Easter Sunday tomorrow, I’m hoping we didn’t apply the same principal for Good Friday! It’s how we feel when people tell us ‘Happy Pateti’… with every good intention, of course!

As mortals, with our very limited abilities/senses to understand the universe and its wisdom, it is our wont to either be fearful or dismissive of such larger-than-life events. And most religions, including ours, is rife with such incidents – divine to some, ridiculous to others. Immaterial, when we choose to not apply a higher understanding to these, we blind side the universe, missing out on its message, its lessons and its wisdom. In Hindu mythology, when Hanuman uprooted and flew back the whole Dronagiri mountain – because he couldn’t figure which was the ‘sanjeevani’ plant that was needed to save the life of Laxmana, the brother of his best friend, Lord Rama – the message we need to imbibe is, true friendship can move mountains.

What could this holy weekend, comprising two such universally momentous days, symbolise? Death of sins. Sacrifice for the greater good. Resurrection. Rebirth. Rejuvenated faith. New beginnings. Respect the passing of the old and celebrating the new. Gratitude. Hope. Happiness… Surely, we can connect the dots and apply these brilliant positive reinforcements in our own lives and embark on a self-journey towards the higher understanding of such messages, which will resurrect and further strengthen our willingness and ability to live out our own sacred covenant of Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds!

Have a lovely weekend!

– Anahita