Gudi Padwa: New Year Wishes to All of You

Gudi Padwa is celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month as the New Year day by Maharashtrians. Also known as Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, this festival marks the beginning of the spring season. People celebrate this festival with great spirit and joy.

Houses are cleaned prior to the festival. Colorful rangoli are designed at the entrance and people wear new clothes on this day. Maharashtrian delicacies like puran poli or sweet rotis, soonth pak, and usal are prepared.

On this day, gudis are hung outside the houses or in the localities. A 'gudi' is a pole on top of which an upturned brass or silver pot called a kalash is placed. The gudi is then covered with a colorful silk cloth. It is decorated with marigold flowers, mango leaves, and coconuts. The gudi is a symbol of nature's bounty. It is worshipped by offering sandalwood paste, turmeric, and vermilion. Then, boys and young men of the locality form a pyramid and the person on top of the pyramid breaks the coconut which is in the kalash.

My neighbors are Maharashtrians and every year on Gudi Padwa, they bring sweets or some kind of goodies to our house. Even though I am not staying in Maharashtra, my neighbors give me a feel of the Maharashtrian culture. I am very glad that my five year old child, who knew January 1^st as the New Year, has learned that New Year according to Hindu calendar is different. It is celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month.

Traditionally, families are supposed to begin the festivities by eating the leaves of the neem tree. Sometimes, a paste of neem leaves is prepared and mixed with ajwain, jaggery, and tamarind. All the members of the family consume this paste, which is believed to purify the blood and strengthen the body’s immune system against diseases.

Taking Gudi Padwa to be the suitable occasion to sensitize people towards trees and environment, the Maharashtra State Social Forestry Department has planned to sell saplings of Neem trees through 300 stalls across the state on this auspicious day.

The festival of Gudi Padwa is considered very auspicious. People begin new ventures and also choose to buy gold, silver, or property on this day. With the launch of Tata Motor's Nano, auto dealers are all excited and are looking forward to a huge demand for the product. They expect a number of inquiries for bookings to come in on this day.

Celebrate Holi in Its True Essence

As a child, I took a special delight in the festival of Holi. Going out with friends with pichkaris in hand filled with different hues of gulal (or aabeer, as called in Bengali), it was indeed great fun. It all used to get started in the morning and continued till afternoon (although we wanted to continue it till the evening). After coming back home, completely drenched in colored water, we used to get a good bath. My mother had a tough time bathing me. Today, I do not play Holi anymore. In fact, I find it as one of those festivals which are celebrated in complete contrast to their significance.

Holi is a festival to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. However, today I find every bit of Holi celebration no less than an evil. To elucidate, I can begin with the use of colors in today's time. In most cases, we find people celebrating it with colors having strong chemical base. These chemicals can simply ruin somebody's life by causing strong allergies on skin and even, in the eyes. These colors can also destroy your hair. Some colors are so strong that your skin and scalp bear them for many days. We all know that there is an alternative to these chemical rich colors in the form of herbal colors. But, how many us really buy them. However, we are not alone to be blamed. This is because there are many shops that charge exorbitant price for the herbal colors, making them out of reach for the common man. So, if you have a sensitive skin, playing Holi is completely a “no”.

Let us now talk about the second evil that you witness every year during this festival. Holi, for many, is simply a festival where you can drink openly with your friends. Perhaps this is the reason why I could find a huge rush in every liquor shop, while on my way back home from work, just two days before Holi. The shops were flocked by men of every age- young, middle aged and old. No wonder, we get to read so many cases of drunken driving around the time of Holi. The cases of eve teasing are also on rise during Holi. In fact, drinking and misbehaving with women and young girls can be seen as a favorite way of celebrating Holi for many. However, molesting girls in the name of Holi has become quite a trend for many years now. Whether you are drunk or not, who wants to miss the opportunity of being close to girls and touch them? The countless number of television reports on all major news channels depicting the stories of helpless girls just after Holi simply brings tears into my eyes. This is the prime reason why girls stop playing it after attaining an age. They rather enjoy being at home with their parents and feel safe.

Holi is a festival that signifies truth, goodness and bravery. Can't we celebrate it in its true essence?

Let Us Abhor What Is Wicked This Holi

The slogan which says`Bura Na Maano Holi hai' is being completely misused by people nowadays. This slogan is being treated as an excuse to do anything like playing Holi forcibly with girls, molesting girls, throwing water balloons and stuff like that. It’s both sad and ridiculous that all our festivals are being celebrated in the wrong way.

When the festival of Holi began, it was meant to be celebrated with safe colors, but now it has become a sadist festival where people are deriving pleasure out of troubling others. Instead of good wishes and harmless colors, bad behavior and stuff like rotten tomatoes and eggs, grease, and permanent colors have come into the scheme of things.

Most of us have forgotten the first rule about Holi: Don’t play Holi with the unwilling. I remember the incident that took place with one of my friends after which she completely stopped playing Holi. Just like any other excited kid, my friend was out with her pichkaari to play Holi, when a big bully came and covered her entire face with grease. She went back home crying because there was no possible way to take it off. Finally, her mother had to resort to petrol to wash her face off. It was a complete nightmare for her and she never plays Holi after that. This is just one incident. Hundreds of such incidents take place every year during Holi.

Not only this, rowdy elements treat Holi as an appropriate time to get close to girls, some even trying to molest them. They indulge in all sorts of dirty acts like forcibly rubbing color on the faces of girls and misbehaving with them. The same thing was depicted in a serial where two girls from an NGO-house were shown walking when a group of guys forcibly rubbed colours on their faces. One of the girls slapped one of the guys. In retaliation, the group surrounded and forcibly molested her. It was broad daylight. The girl’s companion asked for help from the passerby, but none paid heed. This is not just a reel life incident, such incidences happen every year during Holi.

Adding to the woes is the trend of throwing water balloons. You will find groups of young boys at every nook and crevice of a road throwing balloons, full of water, weeks before the festival. They are not even bothered of the consequences it would lead to. So, when Holi approaching, you have to think twice before going out of your house.

Is this the kind of Holi we want? Just think. Are we not losing on the significance of the festival. If you agree with me, just watch yourself before taking any step and the result will be good for all.