8th Death Anniversary 2013

World Environment Day - June 5

World Environment Day ('WED') is celebrated every year on 5 June to raise global awareness of the need to take positive environmental action. It is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

It was the day that United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was from 5–16 June 1972. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. The first World Environment Day was in 1973. World Environment Day is hosted every year by a different city with a different theme and is commemorated with an international exposition in the week of 5 June. World Environment Day is in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and fall in the Southern Hemisphere.

The 2013 theme for World Environment Day is Think.Eat.Save.

The campaign addresses the huge annual wastage and losses in food, which, if conserved, would release a large quantity of food as well as reduce the overall carbon footprint. The campaign aims to bring about awareness in countries with lifestyles resulting in food wastage. It also aims to empower people to make informed choices about the food they eat so as to reduce the overall ecological impact due to the worldwide production of food.

Happy Valentine's Day 2013

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!!

Happy Diwali-2012

Diwali is regarded as one of the most important festival of the Hindu calendar. It is celebrated across the nation with great pomp and excitement. The festival is mainly associated with lights as it is called the festival of light. On the day of the festival diyas (small clay lamps) are lit in everybody's home irrespective of their social status. The name Diwali signifies 'rows of lighted lamps'. Diwali is a five-day festival, beginning on the 15th day of the Hindu calendar month of Kartika (Ashwin). By the Gregorian calendar, Diwali falls in October or November. Diwali marks the beginning of the Hindu and Gujarati New Year and is celebrated with the lighting of lamps and candles, and lots of fireworks. People decorate their home with beautiful diyas and making rangoli pattern in the courtyard and in front of the gate. They put flowers and mango leaves on their doors and windows. Diyas and candles are placed on rooftops, rooms, and kitchen and even in the bathrooms. On this day, people worship Lord Ganesha, the foremost of all Hindu Gods and Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. It is time to exchange gifts and sweets with friends, relatives and neighbors.

Due to India's varied cultural diversity there are many manifestations of the Diwali festival. The festival begins with Dhanteras, a day set aside to worship the goddess of prosperity, Goddess Lakshmi. On this day, homes are cleaned and paintings are done. There are various legends associated with the celebration of Diwali. But people mostly associate the celebration with the legend of Lord Ram returning to his kingdom of Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and defeating Ravana, the demon king. In Bengal, the celebration is marked with the worship of Goddess Kali. People celebrate Kali puja with great fervor and enthusiasm. Joy and festivity reins every corner of the nation during the Diwali season. Diwali festival is the one Hindu festival that unites the whole of India. The exchange of sweets and the explosion of fireworks customarily accompany the celebration of the festival. Diwali is an occasion for cheerfulness and togetherness. This is that time of the year when people of all age and all class take part in its celebration.

Halloween - October 31

Halloween falls on the 31st October of every year and is the day before All Hallows' Day, also known as All Saints' Day in the Christian calendar. Traditionally, the Christian Church held a vigil on All Hallows' Eve when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself.

Well, the date of Halloween, 31st October, marked the end of the Celtic year and was believed to be the day when the spirits of those who died in the previous year would come back and possess a body of the living to allow themselves to pass into the afterlife.

However, the people who were still living were not keen on being possessed and would dress up in scary costumes to try and frighten away spirits. And this is the how the modern Halloween holiday was born.

Why the Costumes?

The Druids believed that on that night the divide between the physical world and the spirit world was pierced; allowing witches, demons, hobgoblins and elves to be released from the world beyond into the world of the living to harass those who were alive. In response and for protection, the Druids would create costumes and dress up as witches, devils and various other ghoulish characters to supposedly blend in with the ghoulish entities from the world beyond. There was great concern to be as authentic as possible, so much so that they even went so far as imitating these supposed ghouls by taking part in demonic activities in order to be immune from attack. They believed that these efforts would ward off the evil spirits.

Why the Pumpkins and the Treats?

In the spirit of consistency and to further demonstrate the extent to which they were willing to go to placate the spirits, the ancient Druids were quite interested in creating an atmosphere that they thought would please these evil spirits. In addition to the costumes they also carved grotesque faces on gourds, which they illuminated with candles. In hopes of escaping harm, they would further try appease the spirits by providing a variety of treats. All of this and more the Druids carried out in hopes of making themselves immune from attack.

Carving a face in to a pumpkin and placing a candle inside is to represent the Irish folklore about a man called Jack. It is believed that Jack was a notorious trickster and once even managed to trap the Devil up a tree. When Jack died, he was refused from heaven because of his bad behaviour and in revenge for being trapped up a tree, the Devil refused Jack entry into hell. Instead, he gave him a single ember to guide him through the darkness. The folklore tells us that the ember was said to be placed inside a turnip to make it last longer. Over time the turnip has changed to a pumpkin.

Why do We Call it “Halloween”?

In hopes of overthrowing this Druid tradition of festivals that was so entrenched in the myth of ghouls and goblins, in AD 835 the Roman diocese, Pope Gregory IV, moved the celebration for all the martyrs (All Saints Day) from May 13th to November 1st. Thus, the evening before came to be known as All Hallows’ Eve, from which the name Halloween was later derived.

Eerily the ancient Druid tradition of costumes and treats remains today as Halloween in various parts of the world. Of course, today the celebration has lost the true meaning behind it and the original intent of the Druids has been phased out and understood to be based on myth. However, while Halloween is now undertaken with more joy and less fear of ghosts and goblins, it’s name has been somewhat redeemed by the church as Samhain is no longer known as such, but by the name of the rival celebration that was known as All Hallows’ Eve.