The Gift of Festivals

The greatness of a culture can be found in its festivals.

In almost every part of the globe we know of, people definitely celebrate festivals round the year. If we take a closer look and spend a little time to indulge, these joyous festivals come with certain messages, messages about the change in seasons, variations in our planet, its connection to the Sun, The Moon and the other planets. These natural phenomena can be best termed and/or compared to a wonderful Rhythm.

Changes in weather, change of seasons or changing positions of the planets; marks as popular religious festivals regardless of the geographical or ethnic boundaries. A time when families and friends come together and celebrate in accordance to their rituals. While there are faith-based festivals celebrating the spiritual aspects, there are also festivals to commemorate a person or an event from the past. In our homes, we tend to find meaningful ways to honor such cosmic changes.

Celebrating these special rhythmically recurrent occasions with our children is essential and also very special for many reasons. Food, laughter, loved people, holidays for schools, colleges and workplaces are truly overwhelming for anyone. It is also important for the children to understand the essence of any celebration. It is extremely nurturing for them to know how and when seasons change, sow-reap cycles in their region and so on. Festivals are a medium we embrace to break the insulation we have built around us and develop more love and reverence towards ourselves, others and Mother nature.

Celebrations with children

When it comes to children, they need a little more time to embrace family traditions and rituals. Annual festivals carry aide to the overall development of a child. Walk in the nature to see the beauty of nature and how it changes every season is one of the few things parents/ adults can do along with the children. Little ones love to collect to tiny rocks, dried leaves and twigs. It is beautiful to see all the amazing things they can create using their collections. These little things from the nature and our celebrations are intertwined in a very special way.

Make up songs and sing them to your children, to gather those wandering minds. Simple words, small lines penetrate the children the most. For example: A song on all the colors expressing Spring can also make a song on Holi with a few words tweaked, song on a tiny little worm in its cocoon for a long long time finally breaking out into a beautiful and colorful butterfly and so on… This is a very subtle way to express gratitude towards everything and everyone around.

Storytelling is an art which most parents feel handy during a crisis situation. We all have grown up listening to stories from our parents on a wide variety of topics. Children would love to hear the history behind celebrating a festival. Minimal lines, lesser jargon, classic language are your key requirements while framing a story to narrate to them. Stories flaunting courage, virtue over vice, hope over despair when narrated to your little ones will go a long way. https://mylittlebookshop.in/product/full-amma-tell-series-10-book-set/ has some lovely books to start with.

There is one thing that children love to do and that’s to IMITATE. Right from the time they begin to look around in their environment. If there is someone cooking in the kitchen, they are there – pulling our entire kitchen out. If, there is someone folding clothes – one can find them woven in the pile of clothes reminding you of the game Chinese knot maybe… As they grow, it becomes our duty to transform such play into meaningful activities. Involving them in any festive preparation is helpful for both you and your child. It is one great way to make the child feel that he is an important part of the family and that he is needed at crucial times – builds a sense of belonging within the child. It’s unfair to be ambitious – they need to feel accomplished and at the same time being able to do that duty.

Repetitiveness is the key. Start a week or two before a festival begins and give it a nice closure. Year after year, these family traditions that we follow with our children will grow in them thus capturing the essence of such a celebration. Most of the festivals remind us about all the good qualities embedded in us – a quality of love, care, devotion, endurance, wisdom. This is the time we look within ourselves and allow these innate qualities to shine.

One thing that strikes me the most when it comes to celebrating festivals is that; irrespective of the region we live in or the religion we follow, the core values of such celebrations remain the same. There is a sense of ‘oneness’ that echoes across all boundaries and such enriching experiences are worth instilling in a young one’s mind. This for me; is an act of restoration of faith and trust in humanity.