Halloween

To be honest I really don’t know why we celebrate this? Pardon me, the more I tried to read about it, the more complicated it seemed. End of harvest, praying for dead, feasting etc.….  I am sure it has a well deserving history, no wonder so many costume ideas, decoration pins are shared on Pinterest each day. Sharing treat recipes is common too. Without taking much time there are some interesting facts about Halloween.

1. Formerly called All Hallow’s Eve it is celebrated on 31^st of Oct each year. Literally meaning hallowed evening. No wonder we hallow our pumpkins and gourds and put a light inside to ward off evil.
2. It is the end of harvest, marking the onset of winter. People believe that this eve the evil spirits (demons)return to live.(No wonder people dress scary)
3. People leave teats for them outside their houses in pumpkin shells and light up the area for them to see the treats.It is assumed that if they like the treats they will not trick or cast evil spell. Here lies the origin of present day trick or treat.
4. There was a belief that ghosts cannot see their own reflection, no wonder people dress up on scary costumes to scare the evil and protect themselves.

But what excites me is to see the excitement of trick or treating on my kids’ faces.  They never bothered what they would be wearing for Diwali, but for Halloween they prepare in advance. Well whatever it is, I am happiest when I get to eat all the goodies and treat Sparsh get back on Halloween. It is fun to see hem dressed as little monsters and ghosts. All I do is keep a box of candies ready for all the monsters that knock my door that evening.

“Mom, can I go out with my friends on Halloween?” questions Anaya.  I just look at her and say nothing. Honestly I don’t like the idea of she going out alone in dark lanes knocking doors in the neighbourhood.This reminds me of how I went hunting for Sparsh who left out with another friend on his bike. So this year I am not sending them out, instead we will plan something boo-tastic and have fun. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

We have decided to accept trick and see what the little monsters have in store for us. We will dress up as monsters, paint our faces, have spooky eyes with red paint oozing out of our skins here and there and scare them off instead of getting scared. Sparsh has plans to scare them with his handmade spider while Anaya wants to use her scary sound torch and shoo them away. Sparsh decides to wear a cape, fangs and paint his face, while Anaya has decided to wear a poncho which has a spooky head and some make up too.

our pumpkins shall smile and not scare

To me Halloween means something else. I told the kids this Halloween lets scare the evil in us and shine bright. Let’s promise to trick the demon, kill it and enjoy the treats of happiness instead .I am glad they have agreed on this, saving me from becoming a demoness. Get ready to shoo these demons forever and live happy.

Happy Halloween

Happiness and sunshine as always.

Nidhi