Doug wrote: > The same to you!
Thank you. :) > Could you explain to those of us that are unfamiliar with the holiday > what it is all about? Well, Diwali is the biggest festival here in India. It spreads out over two days and all the festivities culminate in a puja, feast and fire-works on the second evening, the new moon night in the lunar month of Kartik. That's tomorrow. :) The puja involves invoking the Goddess of wealth, Laxmi, to reside in the household for another year. All businesses start their new accountbooks and ledgers on this day, after the puja. Homes, offices, cities, towns and villages are cleaned out, re-painted, re-furbished, decorated with flowers, rangolis, and lights. Gifts are exchanged and parties, lunches, picnics and dinners are hosted. The actual days of the festival are reserved for family and close friends. Until I had a family of my own, I never realised how much *work* it can be. :) But it's fun. :) And as for the obligatory myth behind it, the reason why a moonless night in the month of kartik was chosen as the day every corner, every street, every house would be lighted up - well, it is supposed to be the day Rama returned back to Ayodhya with Sita and Laxman, after a 14 year exile. So, they say, the people of Ayodhya rejoiced at the return of their king and they celebrated for months at end. And since that day, almost 10 millennia ago, each year, the people of this land commemorate that day and its underlying message - that joy inevitably follows sorrow. Ritu GCU Happy Diwali _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
