Spirit of Festivals

This is the holiday season and there is a lot of festivity in and around us. I was just thrown this question by a colleague of mine who lives in the other part of the world
So, What do you do for this festival - DIWALI ?

Well that's when i told him we prepare sweets, decorate the house and then in the evening we do some prayer and then light crackers and fireworks - its all a fun festival.

That set me wondering - how much of this i actually do - in the right spirit - not much really. So this year I decided to do something on the lines of my proclamation to make it a festival. I went to the old city and shopped and got some trinkets. I also got "Marigold Flowers" and bunches of Mango Leaves.

One day before the festival in the evening - I decorated my house entrance with these flowers and the leaves. A dramatic effect indeed to see the deep orange with the mango green. I went and did this to the entrance of my Prayer Room as well. I had got trinkets to hang on my main door and there they went with bells and mirrors.

All this rubbed on I guess. My husband who had got some lights 2 years back and never used them - fixed those lights and set them up in my balcony. I had also got some Diya shaped lights and they also were arranged - mind you i didn't even have to ask him to do it.

On the day of the festival around 5:00 PM in the evening, I washed the approach steps and the entrance to my apartment and put rangoli all over the place from the stairs till my entrance door. All in all it was fun and I suddenly felt good and my home looked and felt like a new bride :-).

Every year I burnt crackers, but this year I had done much more - I felt much more festive thanks to the effort. I realized that festivity comes from within. We must want to make it special for ourselves else all customs and traditions that were meant to be fun will become mundane. I have also kind of decided to make efforts to give that special touch to all such days going forward.

I have realized that festivals are not merely a reason to get a holiday or to listen to some story that had happened eons ago. It's actually an opportunity to feel fresh, to do something different, to be creative, to come out of the routine and to actually experience the spirit of the festival and to celebrate it in totality.

SO, look within yourself and rediscover your festive spirit, whatever time of the year it is and whatever festival be it , it becomes much more fun and interesting if you take the interest to live it with zeal and do that something special. It also gives you a chance to get out of the routine and feel special in small little ways. So folks up your festive quotient and enjoy the season of festivals.

Happy Holiday season to all of you and Season's greetings.