<p>Celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi is not just about wearing new clothes and eating to one’s heart’s content. It is also about spending quality time with family and friends. Women start making goodies two days prior to the festival and youngsters gear up for a lavish feast with their friends.<br /><br />The excitement starts well in advance in Aarti Agarwal’s household. Aarti says she makes it a point to make all the sweets at home and buy nothing from outside. “We also invite our friends over for a grand lunch after which we play some interesting games together. Festivals are the perfect excuse to get together with family and friends,” says Aarti. She also says that she has been following the traditional way of celebrating the festival so that her children understand its significance.<br /><br />Deepthi Gupta cherishes very fond childhood memories of celebrating the festival in a grand way and her family continues to adhere to the tradition. “I have watched my grandmother and mother make all the goodies at home and perform puja throughout the day. We have guests streaming in continuously and every member of the family is busy entertaining them,” says Deepthi. When it comes to food, Deepthi doesn’t follow the traditional methods and has brought in some variations.<br /><br />“We make ‘Lemon rice’ and ‘Obbattu’. This is distributed among family and friends,” she adds. The family has also brought home an eco-friendly Ganesha idol to stay true to their mission of celebrating the festival without causing harm to the environment.<br /><br />Sathya Keerthy has invited friends from the biking group he is a part of to his home for the festival. His household is already abuzz with activity. “The shopping is done in advance and my wife makes all the sweet preparations to be distributed among our friends quite early. It’s an occasion for us to get together and have fun,” says Sathya.<br /><br />“The shopping has been done in advance and my wife has made all the sweet preparations to be distributed among our friends. It’s an occasion for us to get together and have fun,” says Sathya. <br />He adds that the activities in his household begin with ‘Gowri habba’ for the womenfolk followed by ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’.<br /><br />“It is the spirit and the excitement of the festival that is passed on to our children. The idea is to make every occasion a memorable one,” he adds. “We want to spread the spirit and excitement of the festival to our children. The idea is to make every occasion a memorable one for the family,” he adds.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi is not just about wearing new clothes and eating to one’s heart’s content. It is also about spending quality time with family and friends. Women start making goodies two days prior to the festival and youngsters gear up for a lavish feast with their friends.<br /><br />The excitement starts well in advance in Aarti Agarwal’s household. Aarti says she makes it a point to make all the sweets at home and buy nothing from outside. “We also invite our friends over for a grand lunch after which we play some interesting games together. Festivals are the perfect excuse to get together with family and friends,” says Aarti. She also says that she has been following the traditional way of celebrating the festival so that her children understand its significance.<br /><br />Deepthi Gupta cherishes very fond childhood memories of celebrating the festival in a grand way and her family continues to adhere to the tradition. “I have watched my grandmother and mother make all the goodies at home and perform puja throughout the day. We have guests streaming in continuously and every member of the family is busy entertaining them,” says Deepthi. When it comes to food, Deepthi doesn’t follow the traditional methods and has brought in some variations.<br /><br />“We make ‘Lemon rice’ and ‘Obbattu’. This is distributed among family and friends,” she adds. The family has also brought home an eco-friendly Ganesha idol to stay true to their mission of celebrating the festival without causing harm to the environment.<br /><br />Sathya Keerthy has invited friends from the biking group he is a part of to his home for the festival. His household is already abuzz with activity. “The shopping is done in advance and my wife makes all the sweet preparations to be distributed among our friends quite early. It’s an occasion for us to get together and have fun,” says Sathya.<br /><br />“The shopping has been done in advance and my wife has made all the sweet preparations to be distributed among our friends. It’s an occasion for us to get together and have fun,” says Sathya. <br />He adds that the activities in his household begin with ‘Gowri habba’ for the womenfolk followed by ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’.<br /><br />“It is the spirit and the excitement of the festival that is passed on to our children. The idea is to make every occasion a memorable one,” he adds. “We want to spread the spirit and excitement of the festival to our children. The idea is to make every occasion a memorable one for the family,” he adds.<br /><br /></p>