If there were a recipe for an enriched life, then festive celebrations and cultural awareness would be among the main ingredients. Is there anyone who does not enjoy festivals? They are everyone’s favourites, from older adults to children. Children most certainly enjoy life in hyperbolic fun mode during festivities with their curiosity binoculars.

“What are festivals made of? Why do we celebrate them? Why do we make them such joyous occasions in our life? Why aren’t festive days the same as other days? Why do we follow certain rituals during those days?” Many of us also encounter such questions from our kids during the festivals. But we do not have any concrete answers.

As I write this blog, the aim is not to give you exact answers to these questions but to share and build a perspective around festivals.
Festivals are the time for us to rejuvenate the spirit and explore our connection with nature. Through festivals, we learn about ourselves, the universe, and our culture. We grow at societal, family, and personal levels.

Serving as the best instrument and means to strengthen our bond with our culture, festivals educate us about our value systems, ancestral heritage, and connection with nature. They bring out the best form of our ancient knowledge in the most beautiful presentation. Festivals bring us closer to our culture by bringing the families together. People often travel miles to be with their families on these festive days. Leaving everything aside, they ensure to spend these days celebrating with their near and dear ones.
When we celebrate the new weather and new seeds, during Holi, we know we have incorporated the festivals with the natural transition at multiple levels – weather, agriculture and lifestyle changes. It is just not about a day in the year. Our festivals come during particular times of the year due to this cosmic alignment when the universe is in an artistic mood painting everything with colours of celebration.

Imagine a life without Diwali ki mithai, Holi ka gulal, Janmashtami ki panjiri, and Teej ki hariyali. It is just not the same. When all of us are busy building our lives with work and social commitments, festivals bring us back to our roots by reminding us of our essence, our cultural heritage and the beautiful ways of expressing it. They connect us with our collective consciousness.

If we want our society to flourish, festivals are the essential element. So, the next time when kids ask you why we celebrate what we celebrate, share with them the stories of the glorious festivals from our ancient civilization and remind them how these festivals tie us together with the threads of arts and culture.