This is how you should celebrate Ugadi!

When we were young, festivals had a whole different dimension to how we celebrate now. Any festival belonging to any religion had the essence of pure joy. The schools had longer holidays, we met our cousins, waited for the tasty food to get cooked and the homes were crowded with relatives. We all have to admit this is not how we celebrate our festival. The present day globalization and economic boom have transformed all of us to cater only our demanding work life and not the personal life. We are encouraged to work more to get better pay and have a richer life, as a result we can see people even working on the festival days rather than spending time with families. But this is not the kind of trend which should be followed.
Ugadi is commencing on the month end and for a change let's celebrate the festival in a good old way this time.
This is how you should celebrate your Ugadi!
1. Teach the little ones about the tradition
As a kid, we had our grandma to lecture us on festive traditions and the history of every festival observance. Little do we remember now, to pass it on to our younger ones. Besides every historic fact available on the World Wide Web for our kids to learn, a story being told by the loved one will always stay etched in the mind. Take a complete day off from your work and spend a little time to narrate the traditions and histories to the little ones from whatever you know!
2. Gather and cook
We can see ordering out on festival days has become a practice and adding to that the festivals have become so commercialized that every restaurant run discounts and food feasts on the day. Even if you are not a great cook, you can try out some snack or desserts recipes. Gather your friends and family and prepare lip-smacking traditional dishes of Ugadi.
3. Dress - up traditionally
• With all the cutting edge fashion available for both men and women, we fail to dress up by the old-time customs. Here are some ways by how you can look great also by dressing conventionally.
• Wear Flowers - Women wear jasmine or other color flowers on festive days as a sign of love, good luck and passion. On ugadi women can wear white gajra.
• Bhindi - In hindu tradition bhindi is said to drive spiritual energy to the one who has worn it, but it is also a beauty mark for women. Any woman who wears a bhindi will have an added grace.
• Sarees - Traditional Kanchipuram silk sarees and Banarasi silk sarees are always in vogue. Pick up a colorful saree and pair it up with a contrast blouse. For the ladies who cannot carry saree so well, wear an anarkali suit, designer salwar suit or designer kurtis.
With a complete ensemble, you would look simply stunning on your festive day.
Men can wear ethnic clothing and feel comfortable in it by opting for cotton or natural fiber kurtas.
For this Ugadi, let us turn back and rejoice the old times by celebrating the day in the good old way. Have a prosperous and happy Ugadi! :-)