City drowns itself in festive spirit

Though Diwali is falling on a weekday this year, it has in no way marred the spirit of the festival. Instead, people just got a reason to begin the celebrations from the weekend itself. Ebullient Delhizens are on a frenzied shopping spree, engrossed in buying the best of items, from clothing to accessories, household and electronic items to smart gadgets, food and gift items. Making this festivity a reason for some good old fashioned revelry and fun, Diwali Melas and cultural events are being organised in different parts of the city by different organisations.

Popular destinations like Dilli Haat organised a series of cultural programmes. At Dilli Haat, Janakpuri, 35 government departments, including Delhi and central government, participated in the three-day festival by hosting their stalls. Departments like health, environment and disaster management among others put up information counters to spread awareness about their subjects and guided people on theirwelfareprograms/schemes. But it was not allbout ‘creating awareness’.

The festival included various handicrafts and handlooms products. Special Diwali specific decoration and gift items were the focus of this festival and buyers in large numbers dropped in to fulfil their shopping needs. Artistes from around the city were also invited to perform at this festival, which added an extra charm to the festival.

Dilli Haat INA, on the other hand, is hosting a Deep Utsav till October 23. On Monday, nearly 4,000 diyas were lit to spread awareness for a noble cause of fighting hunger and malnutrition in the country. Besides, diverse stalls offering original handcrafted products for home and office decorations are the speciality of the place. To add to the festivities, regional food stalls of nearly 25 states in India are offering special food items to tickle the taste buds.

The CRPF Family Welfare Association too hosted a Diwali Mela. The programme featured CRPF’s 75 year-journey in the form of a short film. The event also felicitated contributions of the youth, teachers as well as lady officers. There was a wide array of
delicious Kashmiri, Gujarati, Punjabi, South Indian delicacies at the regional food stalls. Folk dances, puppet shows and magic shows added colour, vibrancy and fanfare
to the event.

Besides, residential societies  in Mayur Vihar, Sundar Nagar, RK Puram to name a few, organised special Diwali melas where residents set up their own stalls of home-cooked food, confectionary items, clothes, accessories and decoration items.

Even students, before leaving for the week-long holiday celebrated the festival with gusto. Students of Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, celebrated ‘Urban Illumina’. Celebrated as a Diwali mela, the marketing festival witnessed different cuisines, shopping options and a live performance by the band Astitva. The market research event is one of the grandest events for the students of MDI and is held on the weekend preceding Diwali. Spread across one whole day, the event began with a series of competitions like painting and elocution for children from schools across the national capital region.