Skip to main content

Post-Festival Rejuvenation

Let's face it.

Festivals are stressful, and exhausting. Yes, we have the time of our lives, dressing up, visiting people, sharing gifts, bonhomie and general cheer. But our rest and relaxation schedule goes for a toss, doesn't it?

Take Durga Puja in Kolkata. So much preparation in terms of spring or rather autumn cleaning, buying, distributing, then cooking, home decoration, planning outfits and pandal hopping schedules. 



Then comes the build-up to the pujas - the last-minute buys, scrambling to the beauty parlour for fixing hair or skin, visits to the doctors for chronic ailments (since medical professionals go missing during festivals), buying accessories, make-up, etc, 

Visits to relatives to distribute clothes and sweets, reconnecting with old friends, bonding with neighbours, meeting with para club members, all these become essential social etiquette during festivals.

And suddenly, its Navratri Chaturthi already, and people are posting pictures of the famous pandals, exquisite idols, beautiful decorations, and you haven't even started yet! 

Then come the five most important days of the festival, and you sacrifice sleep and rest to clam as much as you can - of checking out pandals, idols, soirees, addas, dance, posing, for selfies the works. 


And yes, walking and more walking, since most roads are closed, and entry and exit points to pandals miles apart. Then you are so hungry, you stuff anything that looks edible into your mouth to fill yourself and recharge.

Result: Your body is exhausted by Dashami, saying please stop now. But these days, pandal hopping and Sindur Boron continues till Ekadashi, so you rush to see a little more.

Now, by the time Kojagori Lakshmi Puja gets over, you are dead tired, needing a rejuvenation treatment badly!

Let's list 4 simple ways to recharge:

  • Sleep, sleep and sleep some more. Catch up on your much-deprived sleep. Get your regular night sleep schedule back on track. Stop binge watching web series, or socializing at night.
  • Cut down on fried food and cola. Your system us full of fish fry, rolls, chowmein, biriyani, cold drinks and sweets. Get back to eating healthy. Nuts, fruits, veggies, salads should be consumed daily.
  • Jog, run, walk up the stairs. You need to shake off the lethargy and burn up the calories. If you are a gym person, get back to your routine.
  • Rediscover the simple joys of staying at home. Relaxing with a book, or curling up on the sofa listening to your music, or just cooking or baking with your family - indulge in some low-energy recreation. Family time at home - sharing chores or simply just chit-chatting can be therapeutic. 

Take it easy... you have survived a major festival!

Get that zing back, slowly and steadily.

You have to be ready for Diwali and Christmas ahead, haven't you??


#PostFestivalRejuvenation
#FetiveHangover
#GettingBackToNormalLife
#RejuvenatingYourself

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Guru Dutt - Legacy of an Overlooked Genius

"Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaae to Kya Hai:" This heartfelt anguish was literally personified by film maker and actor extraordinaire - Guru Dutt, whose birth centenary happens to be tomorrow (July 9).  Maestro or Failed Genius? All his life, he strove to depict his vision, his dreams on celluloid. Yet, even as he strove for success, for renown, he was a bit of a recluse, a black sheep himself. It was as if he wanted to challenge the language of popular cinema by being within the format, from the inside. His women had brains, taxi drivers and masseurs were philosophers, sex workers pined for spiritual ecstasy, and friendships blossomed between unlikely people. Common people on the street spoke wiser logic than academics or high-nosed editors. The topics of the films may seem dated now, but the eternal truths voiced in them remain relevant.   His films were distinctly different from other popular Hindi films. They had all the commercial elements of song, dance, comedy, romanc...

Does Mother Mary Really Come? You bet!

Prolific writer-activist-thinker Arundhati Roy's memoir, an ode to her mother's formidable personality, is cleverly titled, Mother Mary Comes to Me. Below the title is a picture of young Roy nonchalantly smoking a bidi. Irreverence, thy name is Arundhati Roy! At 372 pages, it is a tome, a sweeping saga that recollects both her mother's remarkable life, as well as her own. Is it a Memoir? Yes and no. Though the book title refers to their mother-daughter relationship, the book - at several junctures treats each one of them as independent and exclusive from one another. In fact, for a good part, her mother finds no mention at all, and the reader is engrossed reading about Roy's exploits and struggles through Architecture College, early attempts to find her vocation and calling, her dabbling with cinema, acting, scriptwriting; her romantic liaisons with the luscious JC, Sanjay, Pradeep et al. A life as extraordinary and unapologetic as Arundhati's mesmerizes in itself. ...

Book review - The Stationery Shop of Tehran

Iranian writer, Marjan Kamali's The Stationery Shop of Tehran is a remarkable and touching book. Like all literature set in countries with a deeply troubled history, this book too revolves around disillusionment, pain and the desperate struggle to live a normal life.  Akin to Khalid Hosseini, Kamali intertwines the political in the personal lives of her protagonists. Class struggle also plays a major role, like education or the lack of it. The story spans over six decades and two continents, starting from 1953 Iran to New England, US in early 2013. Love lost, Lives Shattered Young lovers, Roya and Bahman try to hold on to their love in the face of all pettiness and politics, but the aftermath of trauma runs too deep.  Just as their country plunges into another political upheaval, their lives are shattered and they are thrown apart.  Yet, Kamali makes her story deeply human and optimistic. Her lovers are genuinely good human beings, kind, forgiving and full of empathy. In...