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Harike is an indigenous ritual in which people resort in requesting a boon from the God (Selva J. Raj, 2006). They do so by offering the God with something they have like, money, ritual activity, devotion, service, a willingness to undergo pain, in return for assistance from the God (Selva J. Raj, 2006). Harike is entering into the relationship with supernatural power, where promises or obligations are made and hopes that these promises or obligations, once taken on, will result in divine blessings or supernatural gifts (Selva J. Raj, 2006). Harike becomes a defiant affirmation, an assertion and boosts confidence in facing the unpredictability of human life or it is a commitment with the superpower to walk through the chaos of human life (Selva J. Raj, 2006).
Optimism is an individual difference variable that reflects the extent to which people hold generalized favorable expectancies for their future (Charles S. Carver, 2010). Optimism has been linked to better emotional well-being, effective coping strategies, enhanced inter-personal relations and better outcomes in physical and economic choices (Charles S. Carver, 2010).
The research paper aimed to explore the subjective understanding of Harike among 10 people belonging to the Hindu religion in Shivamogga. The subjective experiences of the people taking Harike were recorded to understand the individual differences and experiences as how Harike, as an indigenous ritual, plays a role in facilitating optimism. The major themes drawn from the data collected are, resilience, coping mechanism and psychological stress.
Stress refers to the demands that tax or exceeds the adaptive capacity of an organism, resulting in psychological and biological changes that may place a person at risk for diseases (Cornell, 2014). The participants were asked about the reasons for taking Harike and the most the respondents used Harike to overcome psychological stress caused mainly by physical illness and financial crisis. The sub themes identified are physical illness and financial crisis, leading to the major theme psychological stress.
Physical illness is one of the major stressors among the respondents. One of the responses obtained by the respondent is: “My daughter had high viral fever and all the clinics were closed due to bandh. We didn’t know what to do and we put all our hopes on God and took Harike that, I will offer Rudraabhisek if my daughter is cured…”. This statement indicates faith in God and how it facilitated hope in the helpless situation. This perspective can be seen in the study conducted by Amy L. Ai and Harold Koenig investigated the use of private prayer among the middle and old aged patients with cardiac surgery and the prayer’s relationship to optimism (Amy L Ai, 2002). The results indicated that the private prayer predicted optimism and healthier affect among older patients (Amy L Ai, 2002).
Financial crisis is another major stressor among the respondents. Harike is usually taken for personal economic growth. Respondents tend to rely upon God to gain courage and strength to take a step towards financial improvement, when there is economic downfall. One of the responses was: “I had lost all the crops due to plant infection and didn’t have courage to sow the seed next time, hence I relied upon God and took a courageous step in investing for second crop...”. Hence Harike is used to manage psychological stressors of physical illness and financial crisis.
Resilience refers to the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress (Steven M. Southwick, 2014). Most of the respondents use Harike as a factor of resilience, where the respondents used Harike as a coping mechanism to bounce back from their difficulties. Respondents mentioned that they feel scared, helpless, hopeless, stressed and worried about their situation before taking Harike. They feel significant amount of relief, peace and hope after taking Harike. The sub theme identified is coping mechanism which leads to resilience. Harike was used as a coping mechanism to overcome stressors and develop resilience. One of the respondents said: “God and my prayers is what is helping me push through the day and my life...”. In the study ‘Anchored by Faith: Religion as a Resilience factor’, conducted by Pargament and Cummings explored the role of religiousness in response to life stressors and concluded that religiousness is a significant resilience factor in coping with stress (Pargament, 2010).
Faith is one of the important themes of the study, as faith acts as an anchoring factor in the whole process of Harike and its effects on lives. The sub-themes identified are belief, trust and hope. All the respondents unanimously agreed on the existence of super power and had full hope, trust and belief in God. These are the basic factors building the blocks of faith in God. Harike as a practice can be effective only when there is faith in God and trust the super power to help them in the mist helpless situations. When respondents were asked if the Harike had ever failed in fulfilling their needs, 8 out of 10 participants said Harike has never failed them and they have received what they have asked for by taking Harike. 2 participants blamed their fate, yet continued to take Harike.
The data collected and the analysis of the responses suggests that Harike plays a significant role in facilitating optimism. Harike facilitates in holding favorable expectancies of future and has contributed in better emotional well-being, physical health and economic growth. From the above responses, we can imply that, Harike has contributed in developing learned optimism in respondents. In the process of Harike, people use faith in God to gain hope, strength and courage in the most helpless situation. Through faith and trust in God, they overcome challenges by learning to be optimistic and hopeful. They change their negative self-talks and attitudes towards the situation, by putting their faith in God and hence learning the more optimistic way of dealing the adversity.
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