This Saturday is one of the biggest festivals celebrated in India. It is the Christmas of the East. The big day when Lakshmi wed Vishnu. Each area of India focuses on a particular victory. For example, in the north, Ram's return to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana, the demon king who kidnapped his wife, is celebrated. Ravana despite his arrogance had a few redeeming qualities where he told Sita, Rama's wife that he would not touch her without her consent. Despite the ladies of the court taunting her as to why she would not want to be one of the queen's of a powerful king like Ravana, Sita was immersed in her husband's memory and love and waited for him. Rama did come and get her eventually with the help of the monkey army from the forest and other allies. In the south, Krishna slaying Narakasura is celebrated. Naraka in sanskrit means “extreme misalignment” or “hell.” Sura means “light” and asura means “one without light.” So the lightless one who was extremely misaligned had to be released from his misery by Krishna or this Christ consciousness. In Kerala and parts of the west of India, this day is celebrated as the day Vishnu sent king Bali to rule the netherworlds.

I remember being very sensory as a young kid and enjoying flavours and the energy of food, which helped to ground me. I would never touch sugars or butters as a child. My mom was happy that some of the sugar laden Indian sweets as well as colas were things I actively despised. I am much more connected to these flavours now. I was also traumatised by certain foods, when I was forced to have them, because someone else thought that it was good for me. So raw eggs beaten in warm milk were my nemesis. I remember being covered in hives at the mere thought of them, and my solar plexus would be churned into knotted disgust. I knew my mom's intentions were good, so I could discuss this with her much later and we both laughed about it. It adds to the many comedic episodes in our lives.

I was not a fussy eater and loved my veggies and grains. I was just a bit more sensitised than my immediate family when it came to certain food choices. I could feel the impact it had on my thinking and feeling process. There were times, as the flavours and their prana popped in my mouth and rolled on my tongue, I was in thoughtless states of bliss. An immersion into the mooladhara (root), swadhisthana (sacral) and manipura (solar plexus) chakras can provide us with this experience, when we are purified. Have you tasted sugar after going on a cleanse? You will find all the flavours are richer and pop. You will also become more sensitised to the vibration of the food.

It is interesting that after Navrathri - the festival of nine nights that embodies protection and goodness - we have Halloween in the West.

It is celebrated each year on the 31st of October. Its roots are in the Celtic Festival of Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) where people gathered to pray for protection, connect to their deceased ancestors, wear costumes and light bonfires to ward off ghosts. In the 8th century, Pope Gregory II assigned November 1st as All Saints Day. The traditions of Samhain got integrated into the All Hallows Eve, the eve before All Saints Day, to become known as Halloween. All Hallows Day was derived from the middle English word Alholowmesse which meant all Saints day.

The interesting thing is that, like Navrathri, Samhain was also celebrated for a week where there was feasting, invocations and strengthening oneself to last the winter which ended with a big bonfire. In Durga puja, also in some parts of India, fires are used to symbolise burning away of the old darkness.