What Does Diwali Mean to You?

Today is Diwali also popularly known as Deepavali or the Festival of Lights. To those who don’t know what it is let me put it this way. It is the Christmas of India. This ancient Hindu festival is celebrated every autumn in a grand way. Weeks before Diwali the mood sets in and children are happy about the school holidays that they get and new clothes, toys and crackers. For elders, it is the time to meet and greet and of course, eat. The festival spans over five day period and the atmosphere across the country is quite electrifying as people are glad about being with their loved ones and spending some great moments.

While India is quite diverse in terms of culture, traditions and even religion Diwali acts like a single grand festival that bonds all of India together. I believe Diwali is the only festival that is celebrated throughout India covering more states than any other festival. It has cultural significance in many different religions and cultures and therefore everybody is able to associate with it.

Religious Significance

For Hindus, Diwali marks the day when Lord Rama, his wife Sita and his younger brother Lakshman returning home after 14 years of exile. This comes from Ramayana, an ancient Hindu epic. There is a similar story from Mahabharata, another ancient Hindu epic that talks about the return of Pandavas after 12 years of exile. In some parts of India, Diwali is a celebration of Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Jains in India believe that Lord Mahavira, the last Jain Tirthankar (holy man) of this era attained moksh (salvation) on this day. There are many other theories that go around Diwali depending on different states and cultures that we come across.

Shopping Time

Diwali is the time to shop and billions across India get busy with purchasing new clothes, household appliances, home refurbishments, gifts, gold jewelry and automobiles. Since the festival is closely associated with Goddess Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity many believe that it is a good sign to invest and spend money. Gambling is also considered to be a way to invite more money into your home. Shopping malls and retail stores bring out their new stock and offer discounts and offers that tempt consumers to shop more. These days the competition has just moved on to the next level as online retailers like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal have joined the competition driving the product price down.

Firecrackers

Diwali is incomplete without firecrackers and therefore many temporary stalls sprung up all over the country to make money out of this short term business. In cities, you will find firecracker stalls in almost every block. As a kid, I have always loved Diwali for fire crackers. I would go shopping for fire crackers with my mother and select from wide range of fire crackers available. However, over a period of time I realized that it can lead to air pollution, noise pollution and even burn injuries so I no longer involve in it. I do lit oil lamps outside my home to celebrate Diwali in a peaceful way.

Diwali Lamps

Traditional Diwali lamps are usually orange and yellow in color. However, people are now sort of bored with the same old design. Hence, today you will find wide range of designs and colors being infused in the Diwali lamps. Like firecrackers, Diwali lamps are very much in demand for these five days so price bargain is tough, but they are not that expensive either. I believe some Diwali lamps are available at Rs. 150 to 200 and above so that’s around $3 and above. People across India decorate their homes with lights and Diwali lamps on their windows which makes the entire city shimmer in light of orange and yellow.

Oil Lamps

Indians might be stepping quickly into the new age technological world, but at heart we are still firmly rooted in our culture and traditions. This is why you will still find oil lamps lit outside every household during Diwali. The literal translation of the word Diwali means “row of lamps”. In the earlier days, oil lamps were considered to be a symbol of purity, goodness and good luck. It is also used to weaken the evil forces around the house. The oil lamp outside every house door symbolizes the inner spiritual light of each individual that must reflect outside as well. It also stands for unity because everybody has similar pattern oil lamps symbolizing social togetherness and bonding.

Rangolis

More than the firecrackers, I am more passionate about watching women creating these beautiful handmade designs right outside their home entrance that simply leaves you in awe. Females painstakingly create patterns using the white chalk powder and then use color powder to bring some life to it. These floor decorations are done right at the entrance to welcome Goddess Lakshmi and guests. Some designs are small, some are large and some designs are beyond the wildest imagination. The below rangoli design was made at my work place at the reception area by 3 housekeeping girls.

Socializing

Diwali is also a time to be with loved ones. It’s a national holiday, but many take extra holidays at work to stay away from their hectic schedule and visit their native places and family members, friends and relatives. In cities, it is all about visiting friends and families and offering sweets and dry fruits. Some families plan dine-out party where they can have some great time together and talk over a delicious meal. Teenage kids these days prefer to have their own private parties at some locations like KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and other international joints. Food and culture go hand in hand. Diwali is the time to bring out some of the best Indian dishes on the dinner table. Females prepare delicious meals for the family and the guests and the regular normal dinner routine turns into a mini over-the-table-in-house party.

No matter which God you believe and no matter whichever religion you follow here in India, Diwali is a time of celebration with your loved ones. It’s a mega party that sweeps the entire nation into one collective fold. For me Diwali has always been a special festival as I celebrate it with friends and loved ones. It gives me a feeling that world is not too bad as we think. I see darkness disappearing as lights from firecrackers and sparklers take over signifying the victory of good over evil and hope over despair. Surprisingly, Diwali is also the only Hindu festival that falls on a New Moon night which makes the firecrackers look more spectacular.

How Not to Buy What You Don’t Want?

In the last few years of my life, I realized that the most difficult job for us is to make decisions. We are simply scared of it, because decisions have consequences and sometimes they might not be in our favor. Buying a product is a decision. Although, we are sure about what we want we still look out for the options that are available in the market. When we do that, we are more confused than ever before. We see ten different items having ten different features with ten different discount offers and that’s it, we are doomed and we end up buying something that we don’t want.

One of my blogger friends Dan wrote about product reviews recently and mentioned that there are three kinds of people that write product reviews online. Read his post here. Here I am not trying to justify anything or trying to claim that writers are right and buyers are fools. I am bringing in a new perspective and new ways to look at things that will help buyers choose wisely. I've been in the service industry for quite some time now and I see this buying pattern almost everywhere I worked. Based on my experiences and what I have observed all these years, I decided to come up with this post.

I believe it is the responsibility of the buyer/consumer to segregate and evaluate all the pieces of information before making any decision. As a buyer/consumer I want better satisfaction ratio/value for money in every product and service that I buy. Why? Because I am putting my hard earned money on it. I patiently invest small amounts of money for many months before I buy anything, so I want to make sure that all that patience and hard work pays off, in the right way. If I am not satisfied or happy with that product or service, even a 5-star highly rated product/service is as good as junk for me. 

Now, most buyers that I have come across don’t even know what they want in the first place, so there is a high probability that they are going to end up buying something that won’t offer complete satisfaction. Secondly, buyers believe everything that is written in product reviews, offline and online. Third, they ask too many people about what product/service they should buy and get multiple recommendations that again leave them clueless about which product they should purchase.

I am not someone who does lot of shopping, but whenever I plan to buy something I make sure I get 100% satisfaction from the product I buy. Now, how do I do that? 

What You Want?

Even before you start researching and read product reviews you need to know what you want. It’s like deciding your destination before you pack your bags and step out. All around me I find people who are not really sure what they really want. All they know is that they want something that can help them to simplify their life. For instance, many of my friends ask me which smartphone is really good in the market (since I write lot about smartphones). That is a difficult question for me to answer because there is no one single model that has all the features packed in, not even the most expensive ones. Some smartphones are for budget consumers, some are good for photographers, and some smartphones are designed for better web browsing and social media and so on. Buying the latest Android version or iOS version doesn't help because you have to focus on the processor, RAM, internal storage capacity and so many other things. What I do is I sit down; write down all the features that I want in my smartphone. I also write certain features that I don’t want or that I am willing to sacrifice because you will certainly have some drawbacks in any model that you choose. I then focus only and only on what features are absolutely necessary for me, irrespective of what others think or buy. I do this for all other products that I want to purchase that helps me to narrow down on what I really need. 

Read Product Reviews

Before I even proceed further, let me confess that there are various kinds of product reviews you will find online. Some written by irate customers, some paid ones that are written by freelance writers like me and some by industry experts. Take your time and read through multiple product reviews before you make your mind. Also please keep in mind that not everything mentioned in the product review is true. It could be that the product that the reviewer is reviewing is not as good as he/she expected and therefore the reviewer voted poorly, but the same product could satisfy all your expectations because you have a different set of expectations. Some product reviews are written by freelance writers like me who are paid by companies. I have written positively about many products that I personally thought were waste of money, but that’s my job. Of course, if you bought those products you would be cursing me and I understand that frustration completely. When you read a product review, focus only on features and not on how the reviewer is feeling about those features. For instance, the reviewer will say the reading angles of the smartphone from the side is poor, so you can't see the fonts and icons clearly. Now, the question is are you really going to read that way all the time? If not, you should not be bothered about the side visibility of the screen. Instead focus only on the screen ppi which is the pixel density and the glass panel used.

Customer Feedback and Reviews

Many customers prefer to write their experiences after buying products. Hence, when you go on sites like Amazon you will find that there are many customer reviews right below the product. Now, it is important for you to read those reviews, but don’t be judgmental about it. There are many companies that actually pay writers like me to write those reviews posing as customers. So, even those reviews or experiences are not completely true. Some are written by irate customers who are not even sure what they want and now that they have not received the right product they are just venting their frustration using whatever options they have to drive down the sales. What I do is I just stay focus on what features are important to me. For instance, if the smartphone is voted poorly on battery life and if the customers have mentioned that they hate the battery life because it gets depleted in few hours, I don’t mind because for me that is not an issue. So even when the smartphone has been voted poorly for battery life I would still discount those reviews and focus on something that matters to me.

YouTube Unboxing and Review Videos

I always make a point to watch these YouTube videos where they unbox and review the products. It’s a great way to watch the product first hand and see how it looks in real. Unboxing and review videos are good, but again you got to detach yourself from what the reviewer has to say. There might be some good points that these videos might tell you that normal reviews might miss out on so ensure that the product fits your requirements and budget.

Compare

I believe the compare factor works really well for those who are not brand focused. If you are loyal to certain brands you might not make the most out of comparing different products, but if you are willing to move on other brands comparing will help you find a better product. For instance, I am quite loyal to HTC in terms of smartphones and I was recently searching for a new smartphone. The features I wanted were available with HTC smartphones, but the price factor was beyond my budget. I compared it with other similar phones and I found Asus Zen Phone 5 that has similar specifications. I bought Asus Zen Phone 5 at a price that fits my budget and that fits my requirements. So, comparing helped me to discover similar or better products that I can use. In fact, I also found that Moto G was in the same performance category and price bracket, so I could have bought that as well.

Recommendations

Recommendation is a better way to find better products/services. Why? Because our friends and relatives are using those products and at the back our mind we start assuming that those products are good for us as well. We buy it even before we think twice about it. For instance, I go to a friend’s place I see this great HDTV and I am in love with it. I buy it impulsively in the next few days, but then I realize there are certain features in it that don’t suit my lifestyle, or there are certain features missing that I wanted in the first place and that brings my satisfaction level crashing down. Personally, I don’t ask for recommendations because I have a different lifestyle as compared to any of my best friends or relatives. In fact, every family has a different way of living. I certainly take that product into consideration while I am researching, but I don’t just buy it blindly because my loved ones have it.

Conclusion

Consumer market today is flooded with wide variety of products and services from different companies and brands. This makes it easier for us to make choices, but at the same time it can be dauntingly confusing. I believe there is no buying tips and trick that can help you find the right product/service that you want, but you need to stay informed and aware to make the right decisions. I hope this post will help buyers to make better decisions when they go out shopping online or offline and get 100% satisfaction and ensure that they invest their hard earned money on the right product or service.  

One Lovely Blog Award - What Inspires Me and What Keeps Me Going?

When I look back in time, I can’t find the moment that ignited the writer in me. In fact, the funny thing is that although I write professionally for a living, I don’t really consider myself a professional writer. I am a passionate one, but it’s hard to tell anything about the early days of that passion. I believe the roots of my writing lie in the fact that I was reserved and shy, but at the same time I had the urge to share what I was observing quietly. I was observing people, things, circumstances and even my own life and I wanted to share that on a large scale without uttering a word because when I utter more words my feet tremble, my hands shake and my voice would get choked.

Anyways, this post is dedicated to all the people that inspire me and push me to write better. Generally, it is the people around you that push you to do better and to reach out for things that you think is far beyond your reach. For me, it’s the quite opposite. Although, there are people close to me that have encouraged me to do better, I have more people who are far away from me, but they have allowed me to go beyond my comfort zone and try new things.

Today, when I woke up I saw an email from Cheryl with a note that she nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. I was touched, deeply. I mean I have friends that don’t even read my blogs and somewhere out there I have Cheryl, never met me in person and she is nominating me pushing my simple content to people she know. Cheryl, I am so grateful to you for all this. So, as she mentioned I am writing this and taking the chain ahead.

Like she said there are certain things that you need to do to take this forward:

First, copy and paste the logo to display the award.

Second, give out 7 facts about yourself. What inspires you and make your creativity tick.

Third and the last thing write or talk about bloggers to boost their blogs and to pass on the love.

7 Things that Inspire Me and Facts

My biggest source of inspiration might sound strange to you guys, but it’s not a person, it’s a place. Marine Drive has always remained at the core of my heart and I actually wrote one blog about it on my IndiaDestinationsBlog mentioning how close this place is to my heart. I used to visit this C-shaped boulevard with my mother. After her death, I used to visit this place alone. Cry here for hours staring the humongous Arabian Sea ahead, but it was here that I wrote my first poem. Funny to say, but whenever I visit Marine Drive in stress, I’ve gone back with positive answers.

Sarah, my wife is the next on my list. I guess more than a couple, we are friends. Individually, we might be imperfect, but together we are just perfect for each other. We’ve faced some great life challenges together and to be together and that makes us stronger. We talk and discuss about almost everything without hesitating. She is probably the ONLY ONE who knows me as me and probably understands me more than I do about myself.

Nature is the third thing that inspires me to write more. This is one of the reasons why I decided to move out from the Mumbai city that leaves no room for nature. I love to admire the huge mountains and listen to the flow of water down the river. I love to see those shadows of clouds of mountains and the thundering rain, frogs croaking, birds whistling and leaves rustling. I believe no technology can give that kind of luxury.

Mumbai city is where I was born and brought up. I have seen this city and have been an integral part of it. It’s like my second mother and has been close to my heart. I love the spirit of locals here who do not stop at anything. It’s a race against the time where 24 hours just pass by in a blink. It might not be as developed as New York or London, but it has its own lifestyle where people are left behind, if they take a breather.

Communication is at the core of human lifestyle and we all love to talk to each other, express our views and share and like things. I am no different, but the only thing is I don’t prefer to say it aloud. I prefer to write instead and share things and communicate my heart out.

Travel inspires me in its own small ways. I love to meet new people, go places where I’ve never been and see things that I don’t know exist. It gives me the opportunity to widen the horizon of my knowledge and what I really know. I prefer places that are least visited because that’s where you find untouched nature and the real essence of people.

Knowledge is also one of the factors that inspire me to write more. If I am attracted by something, I want to know almost everything about it. I guess the Knowledge is Power phrase has stayed with me since my school days and I love to read on so many different things from animals, insects, technology, science and religion and even classic novel writers and so on.

Apart from all the 7 inspirational factors above, I also get inspired by bloggers and writers that I follow regularly. Sometimes I am busy with my own writing projects, but whenever I have time I read these blogs that help me keep my sanity, creativity and above all inspire me to write more.

Here are my nominees:

Daniel Antion

http://nofacilities.com/

I met Dan in a private group and I am lucky that I did. I am always inspired about the way he writes and the way he infuses humor into the content that I cannot. I am quite straight-forward and simple in terms of how I put my content. It was only after reading many blogs of Dan I decided that I should step out of the travel blog zone and write on different things like him. He writes about his experiences while he is traveling for work or when is going through some experiences that intrigue him.

Cheryl Pennington

http://tropicalaffair.me/

If you love poems, read Cheryl’s poems and you’ll see what I am talking about. She also writes stories, but more than that I love her pictures and poems. I love photography and I believe she is leagues ahead of me in terms of poetry and photography both. She also does art work for books and she has done it so well. I can only ask of getting 10% of the talent of what she does in terms of photography and poems.

Paul Ruddock

http://echoesofthepen.com/

I certainly look up to Paul when it comes to humor and short stories. He is a master at it and I believe his stories can give you the right dose of comedy when you are unhappy with what life just offered you. He also writes book reviews and gladly he does not put his personal bias in it, nor does he give away any spoilers which is good. He is my Master of Comedy.

Damyanti Biswas

http://damyantiwrites.wordpress.com

First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Damyanti that she allowed me to be a part of a blog group where I found new friends. Damyanti writes about creative writing and about various workshops and travel and different things that cross her mind. She has a different perspective which I admire and I have so much to learn from her. She might not even notice this, but every time I read her article I improve my vocabulary. I find a new word that I can now put to use. Her writings inspire me in small ways that make a big difference to what I write.

Peter Nena

http://drkillpatient01.wordpress.com/

He is my very personal Stephen King and I am not saying this because I know him or just flattering around. You’ve got to read his horror short stories to understand why I say that. I’ve read Stephen King and many other horror writers from the UK, but they didn’t impress me much. With Peter things are different; he gradually sucks you into the world of darkness and presents horror in a situation that seems so real and scary. If you love horror short stories I would recommend you to read some of his stories.

Lauren Mokasdar

http://englishwifeindianlife.com/

Lauren hails from the UK, but now she resides in the same state that I do, Maharashtra. Although, she is miles away, I stay connected with her through her blogs that share about her experiences in India after she got married to an Indian. Simple, straight-forward and intriguing, her blogs not just reflect the mentality of people around her, but also how she has coped and survived to stay in an environment which is completely alien to her. Living in the “Orange City – Nagpur” she has now transformed herself to Indian conditions. If anybody internationally wants to know how it feels like living in India you should read some of her early blogs, they are absolutely true to the core.

Shraddha Bhatia

http://shradhabhatia.com/

I agree that I might not Shraddha much, but her blogs inspire me and relax my nerves. Well, when I read her About Me page, I was simply blown away. Her English is impeccable and every time I read her articles, I only wish my English moves up to that scale. She writes about her experiences and about lifestyle, style and fashion and even some travel that she does.