Diwali - A festival of lights

This is a blog dedicated to the festival of lights-Deepawali or Diwali. Diwali is celebrated at various places with various reasons. Hindus celebrate diwali as the return of Lord Ram, to Ayodhya, alongwith his wife Sita and brother Lakshman after a 14 year exile. It is believed that the people of Ayodhya lit ghee lamps along the way to light their path in the darkness.

Diwali celebration start with Dhanteras where people buy something new for the house. A day before diwali people lit up diyas and celebrate chotti diwali also known as Naraka Chaturdasi. On the day of diwali people perform Lakshmi Puja for prosperity and well being. After the Lakshmi Puja people lit diyas around the house. And celebrate diwali by buring fire crackers.

Now this was a brief detail about diwali and diwali celebration. Diwali, one of the festivals in India which I really love, takes me back to my school days. The bursting of crackers, the celebration started way before the schools closed for diwali. Crackers bursted at various places in the school like toilets, fields, below teacher's desk, in the classroom. Teachers would do rigorous checks but still there would be crackers blasting at some place or the other. On the day of diwali good food will be cooked and loads of sweets would be there.

Every house would look beautiful with diyas lighted outside the house. And with techology coming up we have eletronic diyas and many other eletronic items to decorate the house. People would buy new dress for the occassion. Crackers would be bursting outside. The sky would be filled with lights and fire works.

There is air and noise pollution during diwali. But its just a one day festival, infact few hours festival celebrated at night. And if people are careful this festival is real fun. The hope of light will keep on glowing. :)

What is fashion?

"What is fashion?" How does one say this is the latest fashion? This is an in-thing or this is a very out dated style; who decides this; who sets the fashion; who follows the fashion? One thing is true about fashion and that is fashion changes constantly.

What one wears becomes fashion for him/her. This depends on the place one is staying, the weather of the place, the culture, the people which sets the fashion for a person. One can wear woolen clothes in summer but that wont be comfortable. Similarly one can go out wearing a sleeveless shirt with a bermuda in winters.

If I look at fashion in India then it ranges from Indian Traditional wear to western casuals to gym wear to office formals. Then there is a specific dress code for a policeman or an astronaut or a swimmer or a doctor. So sometimes the uniform of that place becomes the fashion of the place.

But is the cloth only thing which makes a fashion statement? To this I would say no, there are accessories to compliment the cloth and make a fashion statement. Accessories ranging from jwellery to belt to shoes which compliment the dress and make it look more trendy.

At last I would just say you dont need to follow the latest fashion. Just follow your heart and wear what you like because that is what will make you look cool. But if there is a dress code at your place then follow that but you can try different accessories to be different in the group.