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A Journalist Reveals got the contact of Vanita Vyas from Thane. Vanita Vyas has kept a small Golu in her home, this year. But, she insists on giving innovative Navaratri gifts to guests during this time. She agreed to a short interview and here are some of the things she said.
Innovative Navaratri Gifts:
Vanita Vyas said:
We have been living in Thane since1988. I have been inspired by Golu from my childhood. We used to help our parents in preparing the steps for the Golu, bringing out the doll boxes from the loft and keeping the dolls in the right order. When we were children, back then (brothers and sisters) we would eagerly and enthusiastically watch, asking questions about everything. We would ask how it got the specific name like Dashavatharam and the chronological order, the purpose of the avatars, etc.
When I was young, I used to wonder how the dolls had been made, about the ideas and the mechanism behind each doll and the skills of the artisans. We used to go out to our friends’ house for all the 10 days and invite the people for haldi kumkum ceremony. My mother used to call the couples, did the paadha pooja, give them haldi kumkum and coconut along with betel leaves and feed them a variety of meals.
Unlike nowadays, we used to get Navaratri holidays after quarterly exams get over, during those times. So without exam tension, happily we enjoyed the festival. After my marriage, I would keep the Golu and continue the same – what my mother was doing and had taught us. When people came to our house, there used to be a lot of suggestions about keeping the dolls, decorations and many innovative ideas of gifts. Moreover, every time we would get a new set of friends. Lots of satsangs, pravachan and bhajans would be held. Throughout the ten days, we used to be engaged in all these activities by keeping our worries and problems aside and feeling very energetic. It is a very divine and peaceful festival.
All the family members are involved in this activity. My son and daughter have shown great interest in keeping the dolls and helping me in arranging them as we did to our parents. My husband used to bring all the necessary things for the Pooja. When I call the suhasinis and the kanya girls for lunch, the entire family is involved. It is a family festival. Automatically, the entire family gets involved in all these activities. Nowadays, with a busy schedule, grown-up children and adults get involved in this activity for at least a day or two.
