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SOCIETY
How Divali has changed
 Waning
warmth and togetherness
Over the years, the ways in
which we celebrate the Festival of Lights have changed. From extended
families to nuclear units and from sprawling family homes to
apartments, traditions have evolved, vanished or been modified
Pooja Dadwal
FOR
a nation that is obsessed with festivity and cultural celebrations, no
other festival warms the cockles of our hearts, as strongly and
fervently, as Divali. The Festival of Lights or Deepawali, as
it is also called, has long since stood for the leitmotif of warmth,
celebration, and cheer. Over the generations, has the festival and
festivity taken a different hue of meaning? Have the decades done
justice to the rituals that essentially spin the charm around Divali
or have they been relegated as perfunctory tasks, to be done on
automation?
Society
It’s
time for family bonding
Aditi Garg
RAJ
Rani Jain, 70, is a warm-hearted matriarch who believes that like
everything else in life, traditions should also be allowed to evolve.
Her husband, a retired engineer, P.P Jain, is the head of the Jain
family in Chandigarh. For them, it is a time for family bonding and
performing rituals while also allowing for changes.
Shared
vs solo celebration
Sandhya Renukamba
THE
celebrations have changed over the past three generations: From my
grandmother’s time to my daughter’s. When I was a very little
girl, preparations for Divali meant a frenzied round of cleaning and
the cooking of goodies. Women in a neighbourhood would do this
collectively. Groceries were bought by the sack and distributed to all
houses.
Southern
lights
For us, Divali was taking an
oil bath early in the morning and eating the must-have legyam,
made of herbs. New clothes would be worn with the blessings of our
grandparents and there would be a competition in taking a lead and
bursting the loudest cracker at dawn
Deepa Mukund
Divali
has always been the one festival to look forward to for the joy and
happiness it brings along with it. I grew up in an extended family and
all my aunts and cousins would come from all over India. Once they
arrived (even if it was three or four days earlier), it set the pace.
Arts
Photo finesse
Fashion designer J. J.
Valaya is back again with his latest photography exhibition wherein he
captures the beauty of architectural patterns of the three cities of
Chandigarh, Jodhpur and Dufftown in Scotland
Ashima Batish
Welcome onboard! Your
host on this journey from Dufftown in Scotland to Jodhpur via
Chandigarh is J.J. Valaya. Not in terms of distance, Valaya gauges the
journey in the number of years, which he says, is almost four decades,
transporting you to his childhood. The only souvenirs that can be
collected in intangible form are the architectural patterns of three
cities.
broad brush
SPORTS
Mermaid who
conquered seven seas
Bhakti is certainly swimming
towards new horizons. She has crossed seven seas, including four
oceans; and is the third person in the world to have swum across the
Arctic Ocean
Rakesh Kumar
Bhakti
Sharma, 23, is
quite the water baby. She is the youngest in the world to have crossed
seven seas, including four oceans; is only the third person in the
world to have swum across the Arctic Ocean, and is now eyeing the
Antarctic Ocean to become the youngest to swim in all five oceans.
Preparing
for a turf war
Despite being trounced at the
London Olympics, the spirit of the Indian hockey team has not been
crushed. It is honing its skills to face tournaments ahead
Gagan K. Teja
After
India lost all its matches during the London Olympics, sports critics
and fans had termed the worst-ever phase in the history of the sport
as far as the country’s performance in Olympics was concerned. Their
apprehensions certainly could not be ignored.
travel
Cosy in queen’s land
Ranikhet, which means
Queen's meadow, gets its name from a local legend. Raja Sudhardev won
the heart of his queen, Rani Padmini, who subsequently decided to make it her home
Sudhamahi Regunathan
FOR those who like the
slight chill, this is the perfect weather for a trip to the
Uttarakhand hills. A little later and it will get too cold, a little
earlier the days would be warm. A bowl of hot soup, a warm blanket and
a cloud hovering over you in a pine forest`85it could be paradise
rediscovered.
Globetrotting
Entertainment
Screens sparkle with
romance, comedy
Yash Chopra’s swan
song Jab Tak Hai Jaan! and Ajay Devgn’s action comedy Son
of Sardaar are tipped to set the cash counters ringing this Divali.
But it remains to be seen which will be the bigger fire cracker
Deepa Ranade
Divali festivities,
holidays, bonuses and the auspicious mahurat, all together make for a
perfect combination for a film release. Traditionally, Divali has been
regarded as most propitious for big-ticket movie releases.
Television
FRUIT
FACTS
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