Deusi-Bhailo in a degrading condition

Culture can be defined as a tradition which passes from generation to generation. But, as culture passes from generation, it never becomes the same as before. It gets modified according to time and the tradition that is in practice at that time. Sometimes it is modified which has its own benefit but when it is modified to the extent where it has disadvantages, the culture gets degraded and has danger of extinction of original culture. The same is the case of our culture “deusi-bhailo” which is practiced at the time of Tihar. Tihar is one of the greatest festivals of Hindu after Dashain. Let’s focus on the originality of deusi and bhailo program.

The tradition of deusi-bhailo started from Satya Yug. It is said that the king of “patal”, Bali Raja sent people to earth to celebrate the deusi and bhailo program. I could not say from where and why this tradition started. Deusi and bhailo is celebrated according to Nepali culture. People sing a deusi or bhailo song with typical Nepali instruments like Madal, Bansuri, Sarangi etc. These instruments have great impact on Nepali culture. They represent the folk culture of our tradition. People on the third and fourth day of Tihar celebrate this custom. They dance, sing a song and even provide some blessings to the house. It is said that the deusi-bhailo group have to travel whole Nepal including the 75 districts. It truly represents Nepali culture and traditions. The people also treated the deusi-bhailo group as the messenger of King Bali and respected them, and even feed them.

But today, this culture has been modified in its own form. We have modified it totally according to western culture. The folk song and dance have been replaced by modern dance and some western songs. These days this festival has become one of the money-earning traditions, as I call it. The original deusi-bhailo song is on the process of eradicating and has been replaced by modern song. The instruments like Sarangi, Madal, and Bansuri are unknown to youngsters now. They entertain on some western instruments rather tat our old instruments. They sing some modern song instead of old folk deusi-bhailo song. They even dance on the day but their dance has been modified to some modern practices. Previously people dance to entertain but these days they dance to earn money. And even the practices changed that people have no any respect towards the deusi-bhailo group.

So, I want to focus on the point that our culture which was one of the biggest strength has been on degrading position. Still there are few societies which resemble the old tradition of deusi and bhailo but in most of the society it has been modified to the fullest. I can’t deny that the day will come when we will be colonized by western music, dances and so on. We are on danger. We are about to lose our customs, traditions and even our folk songs. It all depends upon the youngsters of today as they are the bridge between our typical tradition and western tradition. I haven’t said that it is not good to adopt western tradition but preserving our own culture comes at first. If it was not good to be colonized by western country then why should we be colonized by their customs and traditions? This question should the main discussion point among the youngsters today.