Why have festivals at all?

Festivals have always been an integral part of our lives as Indians, with so many festivals to our credit; we almost live from one festival to another.

During olden days it used to be a way to divulge from the routine humdrum of life, now days though the definitions are slightly twisted, they carry more or less the same meaning.

We link festivals to a religious, cultural or social reasoning strung by dutiful rituals, prayers and devotion to the prime deities of that festival. Our kings and monarchs celebrated all festivals with grandeur, huge pujas were organized, many people would be invited to the paraphernalia of the festivals, but amidst all this glamour what was never forgotten was humbleness. An enormous amount of money, food would be passed down to the less fortunate. Those who could not afford to live like kings, would have a heart king size, when it came to sharing the joys of the festivals with the poor.

Originally the word festival was derived from the word feast that would be in honor of God(s). A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. A feast would mean an elaborate meal, which all could enjoy. Times change; so do people and policies. Now we still have the same festivals almost the same fervor and more than magnanimous amount of spending, but we do not feast anymore. It’s not about spreading the feeling of happiness, but how much money we can flash during these occasions, it’s an expensive parade of all that you can name. The people who are humbly rooted are considered obsolete.

Have we lost the golden touch or become so overwhelmingly absorbed in our pillar to post life that we do not stop to think to add a little sparkle in someone’s life? If this is true, we definitely need some re-engineering to do.

Happy Diwali.

Do we know Ramadan at all?

We all know about Muslim's fasting for the holy month of Ramadan, but have we paused to understand its deep rooted meaning? Or do we discount it as a mere Religious Gesture?

This is my third Ramadan in Kuwait, and I have now come to truly feel what it actually means, its more than penence and austerity.

I came across a website that posted Ramdan postcards, and this is what I saw, so real; definifing the meaning of Ramadan so candidly!

May we all have a blessed one.

Fathomless

I have never been able to come to terms ever with what designs God has for you, some call it luck or destiny, I call it HIS planning. Sometimes it feels like these puzzle pieces that fit remarkable well into the whole puzzle of life really soon and sometimes it takes a while to have the pieces fit it, slight tempering that may be required to get them into that ‘set’ frame I guess.

To add to the dilemma of the puzzle pieces, God tests you if you are able to decide on the exact right piece that u need to put into your life puzzle!! He gives you couple of options and keeps on juggling with you and them, repeatedly putting you in funny situations and more so on grim crossroads!

Some may fit ‘just’ right and you never regret them and sometimes you look back and think if you would have had picked the others. What makes us take decisions that we do? Do we react exactly the way God wanted us to, or do we call it our rationalized thinking and execution? What happens when the decisions are made in split seconds, and we have no time to think, do we call it Gut or reflex action or what?

Is there a sign hidden in all that is happening around us and how do we pick them up?

Is there someone above us who steers us or do we credit it to our ingenious minds?

I gaze, I fail to fathom.