Revisiting Project ‘De Nava’ in the Light of Navaratra and Covid-19

The nine days of Navratri are dedicated to the divine goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. We celebrate the festival in different hues across the country. It will be a white lie to not recognise Navaratri as a festival of women and by the women. From the distribution of Vettalai Paaku (betel leaves and nuts) and sundal eating sessions in the South to honouring the victory of good over evil in the North, Navaratri is truly a celebration of its kind. In the east, Goddess Durga reigns supreme, while in the west, women take over the stage with Garba. In all the four directions, we honour the indubitable women’s power.

However, we’ve failed to notice that Navaratri’s true essence has diminished. This comes from the fact that we’ve culturally forgotten about the nine avatars of Goddess Durga, and the feminine qualities each one embraces and seeks to teach us. Also, while the entire country worships the goddesses, the symbol of feminine prowess, men, on the other hand, keep exploiting women at their hands. Thus, the colourful celebrations of Navaratri and the reality are two poles apart.

Gender Inequality not only affects women financially, psychologically and emotionally but also manifests itself into heinous crimes perpetrated against women and girls. Covid-19 just exacerbated the already harrowing situation. The nationwide lockdown across the country was like a dark shadow. Women in the country earn less compared to their male counterparts and consequently have fewer savings and less security. The lockdown left 17 million women jobless. The household work for women doubled. Inevitably, the increased unpaid work and labour mentally and physically burdened the women. Reports of domestic violence flooded and sadly, the reports were at a 10-year high during the Covid-19 lockdown. Violence against women is a human rights violation, and while these were just the cases that were ‘reported’ to the officials, the real haunting numbers never make it to the surface. 

Owing to these realities, Vaayudhwani conceived a holistic social experiment called Project ‘De Nava’. She is a visual storyteller with interests in writing as well. The project seeks to unveil and bring to light the undervalued feminine qualities of the nine avatars of the Goddess Durga in the society. Vaayu believes these qualities are inherent in every woman and continue to be neglected repeatedly. We have buried these qualities into oblivion. The principal message of the project is #SeekTheGoddessWithinYou. The project called for women from varied backgrounds for a photoshoot. Each represented a different avatar to highlight the issues of body positivity, LGBTQ rights, disability, etc. Women need to reclaim these feminine attributes of the Goddess to bring the celebration of Navaratri in its full ethos. 

Post Covid life has been tiresome and difficult to adjust to. Festivals and celebrations are carried out in extreme precautions. Covid-19 has not only changed our lifestyle but also has burdened us mentally. Vaayu, in the current post Covid-19 celebrations, asks us to heed to the different tales of the Goddess Durga. Her avatars need to be read or heard and enacted upon as dramas. Each avatar conveys emotions and qualities that’d help us transition into the new life smoothly. 

Hence, Project De Nava is a holistic venture. It addresses the neglected feminine avatars during Navaratra, the hypocrisy of the celebrations and gender inequality. Along with that, it seeks to incorporate these undervalued attributes into our daily lives, and within every woman.

Let us revisit the amazing album of ‘Project ‘De Náva’