Festivals are about togetherness, good food, laughter, shared work and spreading joy. These days it’s also about taking pictures and uploading one’s status on SN sites.

During festivals, the immediate family gets together and cements the familial bond. I have had relatives whom i could not stand or, see eye-to-eye. What i realise today is that those were my initial lessons on patience and forgiveness. There’s always a reason why there are such people in your life. <you idiot, you deserve them!>

Festivals also mean new clothes and newer people to meet. There’s always an addition to the family- the wife or a boyfriend or a baby. Notice how the most disgusting relatives add the cutest cousins that make you want to invite the Family over and over… well, get the drift? May the force be with you!

I also consider festivals to have some of the race consciousness thing. Bound as we are, these festivals help to add cheer in the World. Moods are magically uplifted and one suddenly looks forward to the approaching festivities; no matter how drab or uncool the teenagers in the house consider them to be.

A festive occasion is a glimpse of Life in its entirety. A single day that encompasses the sentiments of Life. Some have new clothes, some have hand-me-downs. A range of emotions from happiness to disgust, to jibing and friendliness, is in the air. And then, there’s filial love. Not to mention the sorts of people under a single roof. On-lookers might think that it’s just not one family. Hell no, it has to be yours at that. The performances at such gatherings can put Talent contests to shame. Have you noticed how the most terrible singers are always prepared with a song? <or two?! eww!>

I like the warmth that is part of such meetings. Help is always at hand. Someone is surprisingly always enterprising to come up with a thing or two to make the event memorable. And there’s the hope of making a friend for life or finding someone to share some time awhile. All this makes the sojourn <thanks, Heavens!> worthwhile.

Being together is also about learning new things. Ideas, recipes and solutions to household problems are shared <and often, exchanged>. Goodbyes said, the house falls quiet. Promises to keep in touch fill the air. Peals of laughter are replaced by soft voices complemented with forlorn looks.

I do not know if i leave behind a part of me or, take with me, a part of them.
Festivals, in a way, are a reason to celebrate our very existence.