By Subraj Singh

CAN you see it? You’re walking along Campbell Avenue, Campbellville,Georgetown and there is no moon in sight. Even if there was a moon, you would not be bothered enough to look at it. Too many other things abound. It is 7 PM and it is Diwali, or the night before Diwali, if some sections of society are to be listened to.So, you are walking along Campbell Avenue and there is no moon and it is Diwali, the darkest night of the year. People loitering in groups along the street, decked out in Indian wear, chatting, laughing. The atmosphere is as festive as Christmas morning, except that it occurs in the blackness of the night. But then, the darkness does not last for very long.

The first float in the motorcade has begun to make its way down the street. And as it moves towards Middleton Street, on its way to Sandy Babb Street, the float brings with it enough light to illuminate the faces of everyone gazing up at it, as they watch it move slowly, yet surely and powerfully illuminating the way. It is the first of several floats and from that moment on, the night is no longer dark.

While the motorcade as a part of the festivities that mark Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil (light over darkness) and is connected to the Hindu beliefs pertaining to the deities Lakshmi and Rama, it is important to be able to fully understand and appreciate the importance of the Guyanese motorcade.

Often, it is quite an overlooked aspect of Diwali, with many other Guyanese festivities occupying a more prominent space in the Guyanese mindset when it comes to the various aspects of our many holidays.

Then there is the real threat of cultural imperialism and the importation of holidays from first world countries – a good example being Halloween, which does present the real possibility of being able to eclipse the Festival of Lights in the future.

However, despite all of this, the motorcades continue to endure because of the various mandirs, companies, schools and families who work for weeks on end to celebrate their religion and showcase their culture.

Guyana has lost so many traditions and festivals over the years – such as the Ramlila and the Tadjah celebrations. The fact that motorcades continue to survive highlights the adaptability of such a tradition, and this does explain why they have survived when so much has already been lost.

While the main features of the motorcades remain the same (actors/dancers/models representing deities are placed on a vehicle decorated with lights and are transported along the streets and roadways), it is astounding to see the ways in which the floats have morphed and evolved through the years.
The vehicle itself which, once upon a time in our history, was as simple as a horse-drawn cart has grown into cars, vans, buses and trucks. And artists have now begun to experiment with alternative ways of transportation in an effort to impress and to stand out.

The Balesar family, for example, who are experienced in building and showcasing their own private motorcades each year, sought to represent the goddess Lakshmi and her husband, Vishnu, as they stand within the coils of the many-headed serpent, Shesha.

The unique thing about this particular float is the way in which some of the individuals within the float actually have to pedal, using their feet, to move the float from one place to the next.

This lack of engine and the use of manpower might suggest that the age of the engine in the motorcades is not necessarily over, but that it is time for other alternatives to be looked into in order to ensure that the motorcades remain interesting and surprising, as seen with the way the Balesars chose to move through the streets this year.

Of course, being the Festival of Lights, it is part of the norm to expect each float within the motorcade to be brightly lit and decorated with hundreds or (sometimes) thousands of lights of varying colours, in all shapes and sizes. But now, there are whole pagodas built to move on vehicles and they are embellished with an astounding array of items that have never before been worked on or presented in such detail. In one case, the float was complete with a fog machine and a bubble-spraying mechanism.

The De Willem Hindu Temple built and utilised a large elephant sculpture that was placed at the front of the float (representing the Hindu god, Ganesh, who was often associated with the goddess of lights, Lakshmi) and the way it was placed and designed ensured that it made quite an impact on the onlookers who were greeted with the sight of this great elephant approaching them.

The elephant was made with foam and plywood and with this example we can see how, as with the Balesars’ Shesha, which required portions of it to be welded in order to be built, the Guyanese artists who create these floats are unafraid to experiment and are willing to move away from traditional sources of materials and traditional techniques that have always been used to build the floats.

Floats have also now become even more multifunctional than before. While it is known that businesses do create and use floats during the motorcade celebrations to promote and advertise the businesses, there was an interesting development when the Edward B. Beharry & Co. Ltd. utilised their float to also spread a message about breast cancer awareness. Does this mark the beginning of a new trend at the Diwali motorcade festivities? Can slogans and movements and activism (without exploiting or insulting the religion upon which the festival is based) use motorcades as a method of bringing awareness to a cause? Can domestic violence (especially with the strong depiction of goddesses in the Hindu religion) or LGBT rights become issues that are addressed, even as we celebrate?

Surely, bringing the light into the darkness that is abuse and homophobia (and everything else that can be addressed this way) by using the motorcades as an artistic avenue for expression and spreading awareness is something that definitely needs to come out more in conversation, particularly with regard to the ways in which religion can be used to aid marginalised sections of society – putting some light into the lives of those people, if you will.

Dance is another integral part of Indian culture and, therefore, it should not come as a surprise that dancers often appear on the motorcades, dancing to Hindu bhajans as the procession moves along the road.

However, one group this year, the Golden Om Dharmic Youth Organisation from Berbice took it one step further by using dance in an almost theatrical manner to relay the story of the “churning of the ocean”, which forms part of the main story of the goddess Lakshmi, and by presenting the battle of the gods and demons from the same story. Considering that all of this is happening on a moving vehicle, it is quite a feat to pull off and their efforts, building on the traditional and yet presenting something unique, must be commended.

If you did not make it to the motorcades this year (perhaps because of the issues regarding the actual date of Diwali) then there is always next year when, hopefully, the floats will continue to light the way down our streets and roads and the creativity of the artists who make those masterpieces will continue to express themselves in even more creative and ingenious ways.