Festive Fervour – India Celebrates!

Kaushiki Roy, Wellington   Teeming crowds, riots of colour, blaring music, excited chatter, religious fervour, mouth-watering delicacies, laughter, gaiety and sheer pandemonium... the festive season in India is here again! Beginning in September with Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra and Onam in the South, followed by Id-ul-Fitr and culminating in Christmas and the New Year, India Inc. positively rocks in the last quarter of the year.   The festivities reach a crescendo with Navratri, the 9 day festival of the Goddess Durga followed by Diwali, the festival of lights.   A nation of diverse cultures, each state celebrates the festive season differently with its own unique customs, rituals and culinary delights. There's the Garba and Dandya Raas in Gin the West, the five day "Durga Puja" in the East and Ram-Lila and Dussehra in Northern India.   And of course there are the royal Dussehra celebrations in Mysore in South India - a visual feast.   Diwali, which marks...