‘Social learning’ refers to the strengthening of the participants’ skills and understanding through communal activity. The analyses of the interviews indicated that this constituent emerged from five of the eight RAs and their responses can be seen in Box 4.16.
Box 4.16: Quotations from the RAs representing the constituent ‘social learning’
The preparation
ORA3
“…they [participants] will undertake projects to participate in the Maha Shivaratri. This generally takes the form of a Kanwar. This gives youngsters the opportunity first to come together, to plan - making the Kanwar needs planning - and second it is also an occasion for the youngsters - in a group there needs to be someone who leads - to form a group, to build a team…so they learn leadership skills. One person must be able to say what to do, what not to do and how to do things. Management aspects and aspects of ‘division of work’: you buy thread, he will buy bamboo, he will buy that etc. It is an occasion to form a person in different fields. And now, sometimes it may take a month to build a Kanwar…”
ORO5
“…there are certain youngsters who start getting together…socialising…forming committees in their regions…contributing financially to build their Kanwar, etc…the social aspect, which comes into play…helps each one to discover the other. They converse, discuss, share and discover certain hidden skills of their neighbours and friends…it is a way to learn religious values...it is the youngsters who will be ambassadors of tomorrow, of the future…They will pass on this religious or spiritual flambeau to the future generation, and they have to keep this flambeau alive…So there is a need to keep this dharma [duty] alive. That is also our mission; we are indebted to our parents, to our gurus (teachers), to the rishis munis [sages] who have bequeath the values as a heritage to us. It’s up to us now to see how we are going to hand over this heritage to the future generations...”
The journey to and from Ganga Talao
ORA2
“People walk because they want to keep a tradition…people were not having locomotion facilities, logistic…the only means was walking…for one year people did it, for two years, three years…twenty five years they did it all through walking; this became a tradition in itself. So they maintain this, so while doing it they remember their ancestors, what they were doing, and they just follow the trail.”
Box 4.16 (continued): Quotations from the RAs representing the constituent ‘social learning’
The journey to and from Ganga Talao
ORA3
“The individual with everybody together is something he won’t have when he is alone.
This creates a communion among all the participants. And this brings us to the situation where we all have the belief and we have the relief that we are not alone. When he is not alone, he can relate, he can exchange and he can enrich himself. All individual experience is one thing, all experience vis-à-vis the other is different. And often we have experience which is not that good and others which are more enriching.”
ORO1 “Participants who walk help each other. The preparation of what they eat, if for example a family member has prepared food, they share the food with the group”
ORO4 “…one more thing our organisation does, it distributes a prayer booklet to all the participants who walk…which is full of all types of bhajans and kirtans…”
The Char Pahar ki Pooja
ORO1 “Yes there is a social aspect as we interact with people in the Mandirs, we build a relationship, a friendship…we are sharing our ideas. It is like this.”
During the preparation, ‘social learning’ occurred through firstly the building of Kanwars (ORA3 and ORO5) and by sharing religious and social values and promoting cultural legacy (ORO5).
‘Social learning’ is a psychological manifestation whereby the participant strengthens his/her skills and understandings by being exposed to different situations during the preparation of the Festival. It was seen as an excellent opportunity for the participants, including young children and youngsters who are not yet of age to have jobs, to learn and socially benefit from building Kanwars by gaining several management competences, one of which was leadership skills. ORA3 also mentioned that building Kanwars can take several weeks and, in doing so, the zeal of the individuals is maintained throughout the Festival. The artistic creation of a Kanwar demands creativity, problem-solving and time management skills as well as sacrifice, patience, dedication and commitment that an individual
‘further’ develops during the preparation. The participants are therefore able to learn how to work in a group with like-minded people and share values, purposes and interests. This implies that the participant can benefit at an intrapersonal level through the communal activity or the experience of making a Kanwar. As the group gathers regularly and works together, they are able to interact, share ideas and also develop and establish relationships with their peers irrespective of their age and social differences: the notion of communitas is developed.
‘Social learning’ also occurred through the sharing of religious and social values and the promotion of cultural legacy (ORO5). These values are shared among friends, acquaintances and family members. In regard to cultural legacy, parents act as mentors and guide youngsters by transposing religious values, identity, cultures, principles, etiquettes and dogmas. Hence, both adults and children experience ‘social learning’ by participating in the Festival and they feel enriched in terms of gaining knowledge and achieving personal growth. So, the Festival is an opportunity for children and youngsters to learn and observe from their elders and as a result Hindu culture and traditions are sustained. Therefore, working together as a community for the preservation of the Hindu tradition, cultures and values is an ‘augmented’ religious experience for the participants during the preparation.
During the journey to and from Ganga Talao, the aspect of cultural legacy, which is also a psychological process, arose. The walk was an opportunity for older generations to pass on traditions to the younger generations (ORA2). The walk was seen as being a cultural legacy to the younger generation where the latter has the opportunity to maintain the traditions and remember their ancestors. In effect, an individual can enhance his/her knowledge and help in the perpetuation of the Hindu culture and traditions. Also, knowledge can be shared through the distribution of prayer booklets, which contain religious prayers provided to the participants who walk (ORO4).
Through the use of the prayer books, the participants have an opportunity to read and learn prayers.
They can therefore sing, pray or follow prayers alongside others during their journey.
Consequently, the participants have the opportunity to learn, inculcate and enhance religious values, morals and knowledge. As such, the aspect of social learning can not only influence the participants’ social ethics, satisfaction and loyalty but also augment their religious experiences by producing heightened positive emotions during the walk as a result of social engagement.
‘Social learning’ was also considered by the RAs to arise during the journey to and from Ganga Talao, as a product of communal experience (ORA3 and ORO1). Being amongst others, individuals are provided with the opportunity to exchange ideas thereby enriching one another (ORA3).
Through social learning, participants have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge, skills and understanding of others’ social behaviour. This social learning is a collective experience which is unique as it would never have occurred if individuals could not celebrate the Festival together.
Through social learning, individuals are able to create a sharing mind-set with family, friends and others and think and behave well during the Festival; this in turn brings an additional plus to the individual and his or her surroundings. The collective experiences gained during the Festival can therefore augment the participants’ religious experiences. This learning process can potentially trigger the experience of heightened pleasant feelings (e.g. ecstatic, spirited, determined and blessed) among participants. Therefore, social learning is capable of augmenting the religious experiences for participants during the walk. Additionally, ORO1 identified that during the walk, members of one group tend to help one another, for example by sharing food. By communally experiencing the sharing of food, participants reinforce their social bonds with other members of their group. This unique communal experience can only occur during the walk as it allows participants to create personal meaningful, transcending and religious/spiritual experiences; this creates the augmented religious experiences for the local participants who walk.
‘Social learning’ was also an outcome of the communal experience during the Char Pahar ki Pooja.
During the night of prayers, participants have the opportunity to learn more about sharing with others (ORO1). Being amongst others, individuals share many things including ideas and prayer items. This sharing aspect is thought to help the individual to enrich the other: the sharing experiences help them to build up socially and psychologically. The collective experience is unique as it would never have occurred if participants would not be praying and sharing together. As a result, the sharing mind-set during the Char Pahar ki Pooja was seen as a social factor that
augmented the religious experiences of those participating in the prayers of the Char Pahar ki Pooja.