There was a time when we called the monsoon month of Sawan by its name. In traditional lore, with its arrival, swings would appear in orchards. The air would be filled with the melodies of the kajri folk form and Raag Malhar. The Earth changed its attire as nature draped herself in a green veil.Sawan meant relief and hope.For farmers, Sawan is still Sawan. Even today, they call it by that name. Few other lives are bound to rain and drought as intimately as theirs. They await Sawan with particular longing. They know that the rhythm of cultivation changes with it.Farmers know what the month means for paddy, maize, jowar, chana, black gram, cotton and other crops. Many of their festivals, too, fall in this month. There is Teej. There is Nag Panchami. The agricultural calendar and the Hindu ritual calendar have long lived together.But we no longer inhabit that older sense of time. We now live within an official Hindutva calendar. It is no longer Sawan that begins but the auspicious month of Shravan. Every mention of Shravan must now be preceded by adjectives such as “holy, sacred or auspicious”.Sawan has been stolen from ordinary people. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Sawan has been abducted. Its abductor is the Bharatiya Janata Party.Over the past decade or so, Sawan has been subjected to a process of thorough Hindutvaisation. Governments led by the Bharatiya Janata Party welcome the sacred month of Shravan with full-page newspaper advertisements. It is as though Indians no longer learn of its arrival from the changing colour of the sky or the scent of wet earth, but from government announcements.A devotee leaves after offering prayers to the Shiva Lingam with the holy water of the river Ganga in Varanasi on August 3, marking the first Monday of the month of Sawan of the Hindu calendar. Credit: AFP. Nor is one advertisement considered sufficient. Governments repeatedly remind people that Shravan has arrived and is very much there. More than that, they also tell Hindus what their principal duty during the month is.There was a time when Krishna exhorted Arjuna: “Rise, Partha. Lift your Gandiva.” Now, governments issue a different command. Shravan has begun. Rise, O Hindus. Raise your kanwar to your shoulders.Take Bihar. On July 28, the Hindi newspapers in the state carried a full-page advertisement issued jointly by the Bihar government and its Department of Tourism announcing the inauguration of the Shravani Mela or Shravan fair.Government advertisements in Bihar these days invariably come bathed in saffron and this one was no exception. At the top of the advertisement, next to the words “Shravani Mela” were a saffron triangular flag, a damru drum and a trident. At the centre was an image of Shiva himself, holding a trident in his hand.