Sunday, April 15, 2018

Vishu

I like New Years. Be it the Jan 1st New Year, or the Chinese New Year, or Gudi Padwa/Ugadi or Songkran /Vishu or the New Year that several of us Indians celebrate with Diwali. (just to name the few I had the fortune of celebrating. )Across all cultures and geographies, the one occasion we all celebrate is a New Year. Sure, your New Year celebration might be different from mine and you consider a different day as your New Year than I do, but we all believe in the spirit of renewal that a New Year represents. 

A reason to discard the old and embrace new beginnings. An embodiment of hope, for a better future, to look ahead, while being grateful for the past. It is therefore not a co-incidence that in most traditional cultures, New Years coincide with the local harvesting season - signifying prosperity, or with Spring - signifying renewal. 

Today is Vishu - the New Year I was raised to celebrate from childhood. I make it a point to celebrate Vishu whereever I am. Vishu , for me, is a personal, familial, religious celebrationWhile in Thailand, I also loved the celebration of Songkran - the Thai New Year, which falls around the same time. Songkran we celebrated on the streets with strangers. 
As I use this moment to reflect on the last year, I am grateful for the opportunity to hit that metaphorical ‘refresh’ button in my head, at this time of the calendar year. Happy Vishu Everyone.

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