Do-wali: Things to Do during Diwali

Warning! We are just about to get a tad preachy. Diwali shouldn’t be reduced to one day of noise and gorging on sweets. So we decided to play teacher this week, to tell some must does of Diwali and the reason behind it. Here goes.

The first day of Diwali is called Dhanteras. It is technically the 13^th day from Poornima or the full moon. So now you know how that name breaks up... Dhan (money) + teras (13). Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped this day, the goddess of wealth.

MUST DO ON DHANTERAS:

·      It is customary for go shopping on this day. (Just another reason we presume). Buy some gold and utensils on this day.

·      Make the entrance way to your house colourful. You may use flower garlands, bells, LED lights and most importantly draw up a rangoli. Keep the decor up for all 5 days of Diwali. 

The 14^th day is Narak Chaturdashi or Choti (Small) Diwali. It is believed that on this day Lord Krishna killed the demon Narakasur, freeing our world from his terror.

MUST DO ON CHOTI DIWALI

This is technically the first day for lighting firecrackers. Please avoid loud crackers, and don’t burst too many. Do it for rituals sake.

The new moon day is the most significant day. This is the actual day of Diwali. It is said that goddess Lakshmi enters the house and it is imperative for the house to be clean.

MUST DO ON DIWALI

·      Draw small footprints with nice flour over your house, it’s a way of indicating the goddesses arrival into your house.

·      Perform a Lakshmi Pooja.

·      Exchange gifts and sweets to share love and propagate brotherhood.

·      It's okay to play for money in card games but don't get swayed by it.

·      Firecrackers galore post dinner. (You may skip this part though... a little sparkler here are there should do.) 

The next day is the first day of the bright moon and is called the Balipatipradha or Govardhan puja. This is believed to be the day that Lord Krishna lifted the enter Govardhan mountain to protect the people of Gokul from the wrath of Lord Indra.

MUST DO ON BALIPATIPRADHA

·      Feed the poor. It’s a way of being an agent of Lord Krishna and to protect the poor

The fifth and the final day is Bhai Dooj. Its a renewal of sibling love, where sisters pray for the health of their brothers and exchange gifts. 

MUST DO ON BHAIDOOJ

·      Meet your brother. And most importantly gift him. You see there are not too many days that he gets to feel special :)

Are there some rituals that you follow during Diwali. Share it with us in the comments section below.

Happy Diwali everyone... May Goodness Light up your Life!

VISIT THESE PLACES DURING DIWALI

Some celebrate Diwali at home. There are many who run away from cities worrying blocked roads, traffic and crackers. This Diwali is strategically placed just before the weekend this year. If you haven’t already planned it, here are a few quick suggestions. Places to visit during Diwali:

The Golden Temple with a golden draping of lights is a sight worthy of watching. If you are a DSLR junky, then this is the place to be. The edge of the lake is fringed with countless oil lamps, lit by devotees and the reflection of the lake, looks like the gods are reciprocating.

A similar sight will be seen in the city pegged as one of the most spiritual places on earth... Varanasi. You will see the bank of the holy river ganga light up with a million oil lamps, each oil lamp representing the belief of a soul.

If you love merging celebrations & temples, then you should definitely visit Kolkata. Kali Puja, which is mandatory sight during Diwali, makes one witness with huge false gates being lit up with LED lights. If you wish to see the gates of heavy (an artist’s rendition) while you are alive, then Kolkata is the place to be.

The Pink City loses its association with one color and takes a multi-color avatar during Diwali. The Hawa Mahal turns into a bright color pack in the night of Diwali.

And this is the last place that you would guess. Go Goa now... Be in Goa to witness the biggest and the scariest effigy of the demon Narakasura as they burn it at dawn.

Tell us the place you would visit this DIWALI in the comments section below. 

WHEN MONUMENTS GO VAIN

Facebook DP’s and Instagram pages are filled with selfies. Call that the mood of the social space or vanity at its peak.  The right angle and right exposure, a bit of red and a tinge of blue changes the way the image looks. Even Narcissist would have seemed humble if he was alive today.

Going by the trend, we thought of paralleling it to something equally beautiful as us humans. If we humans are god’s more beautiful creation, there are some marvellous man made creations that look stunning. They look beautiful in broad day light too. But let’s take a hypothesis. If the monuments were to assign their filters to their own selfies, how would it look like? Here is a sneak peak of the monuments rolling deep in vanity.

The epitome of love located in the city of Agra looks beautiful in the day with its pristine white play of marbles. As the sun sets, the tender touch of rustic orange kisses the white marbles. With the sky as the background and a beautiful landscape in front of it the play of red and yellow filters makes the monument look beautiful.

The Colosseum in Rome has a grungy look. Its massive size and broken walls have a story to tell. Lit with yellow light and in the backdrop of the skies, the Colosseum looks like a half eaten cheese cube in the night.

The Machu Pichu in Peru lit in blue light looks like some powerful beast arising. The contours and curves in the god’s most beautiful bump on this earth, when lit in manmade blue powercans looks magnificient.

If lights can swell up the look of already beautiful monuments, imagine what it can do to your house. The blue corner to rest, the orange one for positivity and the sun lit part of the house for pure energy. Many houses don’t depend on these lights for doing up their houses and keep depending on buying inventory. The main reason being the power failure. But times have moved fast. Small sized and low noise dg sets provide power for these pockets of power cuts. Long gone are the days of huge monster machines which sound like a grungy bike being raced by a rude rider. These new age dg sets are power efficient, pollution free and less noisy.

So, plan up to create another wonder within your house. Play up with light and use dg sets to say goodbye to power cuts.