Other Days may be different…but today India celebrates Dussehra…when Lord Rama vanquished the arrogant Sri Lankan King,Ravana……and this is traditional….get up early…bathe early…Adorn Car and House with fresh Marigold ‘Torans’….Pray….Arrange for Breakfast of Hot ‘Jalebis’,’Fafda’ or Papdi with Raw Pumpkin Chutney for eight houses in my extended Family….most had yet to awake on this lazy Sunday…..there are huge lines that form from early morning at famous Indian Sweetmeat Shops to buy fresh Hot Jalebis……I got mine from ‘Sangeeta’ at Neapean Sea Road in South Mumbai….had to wait my turn….fortunately the line in front of me was shorter than the one that formed behind me at 8 am…..managed to do all this by 9 am this morning !
Dussehra is being celebrated today with great faith,passion and vigour all over India…Its been nine nights of Navratri Celebrations that culminates in Dussehra…..Mysore,Kolkata,Varanasi,Delhi,Mumbai
…..Gujarat especially comes alive during Navratri with the famous folk dances of ‘Dandiya Raas and Garba’ Programmes dotting the landscape in it’s villages,towns and cities….children,youngsters and old alike draped in vibrant colourful kurtas,chanya cholis,turbans and badhinis with matching jewellery and other accessories dancing in fabulous rhythm,some even possessed by it,to traditional Gujarati songs and even hit Bollywood remixes either belted out live by singers,some famous like Falguni at Ankleshwar in Gujarat or Rahul at Goregaon in Mumbai or played out as recorded music…these celebrations are beamed out live on various channels
…..Kolkata celebrations of Goddess Durga Mata are legendary and one has to experience them….Goddess Amabaji Mata,Lord Ram and his consort Sita and brother Lakshman and even his disciple,Lord Hanuman have also been worhipped with greater fervour for ten days now……’Ramayana’ has been read out and even enacted in spirited fashion at congregations all over India……. Idols of Goddess Durga Mata are now being immersed in Waters
……Mysore is celebrating 400 years of the famous Elephant Parade that is the hallmark of Dusshera festivities in the southern state of Karnataka
To signify the Triumph of Good over Evil and to Destroy and Kill Arrogance and Evil ,Effigies of Meghnatha,Kumkarna and the ten headed Ravana are being set alight in this order at Maidans all over India ….captured some of this on my mobile camera from Live TV….at Subhash Maidan in New Delhi at 6 pm where all our governing Political bigwigs of the Capital were present…President,Vice President,Prime Minister,CM of New Delhi,Chairman of the Congress Advisory Council…..they set Doves and tricolour ballons into the air to express peace and solidarity and joy…soon after the Effigies were set alight….some of these bigwigs then drove to the famous Ramlila Maidan where at 7 pm the effigies were set alight…In Mumbai at Chowpatty beach the effigy of Ravana was set alight at the same time
Now we’re all set for the Big Festival of Lights,Diwali and the Hindu New Year in the first week of November
Good Always Triumphs over Evil…Always