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Online retailing in India

Contributed by Disha

Diwali is the best time to spend your pockets out. Stores overflow with various discounts and decorations.  As people get extra cash in form of bonus, they are more eager to shop for Diwali. Diwali shopping is not restricted to India only, but Indians all around the world are excited to splurge on Diwali Shopping. The shopping for Diwali is planned well in advance. All stores make a great profit before and during the Diwali period. Shopping malls offer various discounts. Buying new clothes during Diwali has become a tradition. People visit various stores and shop according to the new fashion trends available during the season. Kids are attracted to crackers; hence they prepare their wish list well in advance. Other important things to be shopped are gifts, jewelry, things for puja etc.

Contributed by Mridula M

Festivals in India are renowned for their exuberance and gaiety which are a part of most of their celebrations. Holi is undoubtedly supreme in this list –since there is no equivalent worldwide of a festival which is the embodiment of colour and good humour.
Holi is celebrated each year in March or April, based on the Hindu festivals calendar. It denotes the advent of spring and the harvest season, and is celebrated predominantly in Northern India, specially the states of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.
There are many legends associated with this festival, the most popular ones being the legends of Holika and Prahlad. One of the unique aspects of this festival is the fact that there are no religious ceremonies which are associated with it. There are no special prayers or pujas which need to be performed on this day. There is a tradition of lighting a bonfire in the evening and gathering around it with your family and neighbours.
This festival is one of the greatest levellers in Hindu tradition. It is celebrated by smearing colour on the faces of your friends and family, and by throwing wet colour on them. Within a short while they all begin to look alike, and there is no bifurcation left of class and creed. This is one of the few occasions when people leave aside their animosities and their beliefs about caste and societal norms. Everyone joins in the exuberance of laughter and amusement, and it is very difficult to remain dignified and aloof when you are covered with colour from head to toe.
There are many traditions associated with food and drink during Holi. The most famous one is of consuming “Bhang “, the local intoxicating weed added to “Thandai “. This can lead to many hours of delusions and inebriation, hence it is not recommended for all the revellers. The other famous and far less intoxicating food specialities are the “Gujiya “of Northern India and the “Puran Poli “of Maharashtra. Both these sweets are an inherent part of every Holi celebration.
There are a few precautions which need to be taken when you are celebrating Holi. Lately there have been many news reports of colours being mixed with dangerous materials, leading to skin allergies and occasionally to loss of eyesight. Buy your colours from reputed places, and purchase only organic colours. If you are prone to skin allergies, avoid going out on this day.
It is a very messy festival, so if you are celebrating it with friends in your home, do make arrangements for everyone to have a quick shower after the festival is over. Otherwise you shall have coloured chairs and floors which have dyes all over them. Make sure that you have enough food for everyone, since a lot of energy is expended while playing this game.
Holi has always been an occasion to forget past grievances, and to renew old friendships. Just savour the moment, and for at least a day forget all about your dignity and rules of society. Have some fun with your family and friends, you will once again learn about the joy of living a carefree life – if only for a day.

Contributed by Mridula Murgai

Deepawali or Diwali as it is more popularly known, is a festival which signifies not just the triumph of good over evil, but also of the re-bonding of family and tradition. It is an occasion to gather together not just to pray, but also to exchange sweets and light up your home with sparkling earthen lamps and twinkling lights.
Hindu mythology tells us that Diwali is a celebration of the return of Lord Rama, with his wife Sita, and brother Lakshman to Ayodhya, after 14 years of exile, and after vanquishing Ravana. In Bengal it is a celebration in honour of Goddess Kali. In many other parts of the country it is an occasion to worship Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth.
This festival of lights gets its name from the tradition of lighting small earthenware lamps all over the house. The homes are scrubbed clean, decorated with rangoli and flowers, and lamps and candles. In urban areas you will find many homes with twinkling electrical lights which add to the beauty of this festival. All homes suddenly look much brighter and lovelier and there is a sense of hope and goodwill.
Children love this festival due to the fireworks which are an inherent part of the celebrations. There are fireworks which can come close to bursting your eardrums, there are fireworks which can light up the sky with a multitude of sparkling coloured stars, and there are fireworks which even small children can handle easily, albeit under adult supervision.
Sweets or mithai are synonymous with Diwali. Sweets are distributed among family and friends and soon homes are filled with various types of mithai. Lately the trend has been towards distributing gifts of other types, rather than sweets, but if you visit any sweet shop during these days, there seems to be little evidence of this! Weight watchers also forget their diets for a few days because it is difficult to resist these temptations.
Earlier, Diwali used to be the occasion to start new account books in businesses and begin a new year at work. The employees looked forward to their annual bonuses at this time. New clothes for the family are still a tradition among most families, and it is also the time to visit all your relatives and give them gifts of mithai and other items.
On this day, many people leave their doors and windows open to invite Lakshmi, the goddess wealth to enter their homes. They build an altar in their homes in her honours and they pray to her for a bountiful and prosperous time in the future. In Bengal, they pray to Goddess Kali, the vanquisher of evil. In Tamil Nadu, their prayers begin early in the morning and they also light their firecrackers during dawn,
Gambling also has become an inherent part of this festival. Card sessions in Delhi have become an essential ingredient of Diwali celebrations. Stakes can range from the miniscule to lakhs to rupees. The origins of this tradition seem to have got lost in the annals of time.
Diwali is an occasion to rejoice and to pray for the well-being of your family and your work. It is also an occasion to clean-up your home and decorate it to welcome the advent of Lakshmi, our Goddess of wealth.

Contributed by Disha Mehrotra

There are numerous types of festivals in the world. Though many have religious origins, others involve seasonal change or have some cultural significance. Also, certain institutions celebrate their own festival (often called “fests”) to mark some significant occasions in their history. These occasions could be the day these institutions were founded or any other event which they decide to commemorate periodically, usually annually.
Seasonal festivals: Seasonal festivals are determined by the solar and the lunar calendars and by the cycle of the seasons. The changing of the season was celebrated because of its effect on food supply. An important type of seasonal festivals are those related with the agricultural seasons. Dree Festival of the Apatanis living in Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh is one such important festival, which is celebrated every year from July 4 to 7 praying for bumper crop harvest.
General: Arts festival, Film festival, Folk festival, Music festival, Religious festival, Science festival, Theatre festival and Winter festivals.

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