'Diwali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz'; Brands like Fab India must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures

In a deliberate attempt of abrahamising the Hindu festival of Diwali, the Fab India group, the clothing brand in its Diwali advertisement campaign has launched the ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ collection. The social media users have objected to yet another appropriation of a Hindu festival and sentiments. The cultural appropriation has left social media users uncomfortable, just ahead of another Hindu festival. Not many favored Diwali being loosely translated to ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’.

 

 

Author, speaker and textile enthusiast, Shefali Vaidya slammed Fabindia for ‘de-Hinduising’ festivals. “Wow @FabindiaNews great job at de-Hinduising Deepawali! Call it a ‘festival of love and light’, title the collection ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’, take Bindis off foreheads of models but expect Hindus to buy your overpriced, mass produced products in the name of ‘homage to Indian culture’!” she tweeted.

 

 

Interestingly, the advertisement campaign released by the brand is a complete mismatch with the title chosen for the Diwali collection. Fabindia’s ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ video campaign ironically features the rich culture and tradition of Rajasthan. The campaign starts with a Rajasthani lad taking a group of friends belonging to different ethnicities to his home to celebrate the festival of Diwali. While driving amidst the different traditional aspects of Rajasthan, the boy wonders how his friends might be perceiving the timeliness tradition and history of the state.

 

 

The ad then focuses on Rajasthani traditions, rituals, food and finally the couture to highlight the richness, heritage and legacy of Diwali, a festival celebrated by lighting diyas, bursting crackers and distributing sweets amongst other traditions to mark the win of good over evil. One of the most significant Hindu festivals, Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Shri Ram after defeating the evil that was Ravana. This is precisely why several users were left bewildered with the usage of a heavy Urdu phrase to name a traditional collection exclusively designed for a Hindu festival.

 

 

Fabindia was established in the year 1960 by John Bissell, an American beneficiary of the Ford Foundation. He had come to India as adviser to the Cottage Industries Emporium on a Ford Foundation Grant. The Ford Foundation is an American charitable organisation, which casts itself as a group engaged in advancing human welfare, whereas, in reality, it is a ‘cesspool of intolerant and bigoted left-wing extremists’ as revealed by whistleblower Christopher Brunet on his Substack KarlStack.

 

These left-wing ideologues and extremists, the whistleblowers had claimed, go to great lengths to propagate their communist views while advocating the ‘cancel culture’ and harassment against those who dare to voice opposing views and dissenting opinions. The current managing director of the company is John’s son, William Bissell.

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