On Monday the 11th of Feb it was Saraswati puja, when we all worship the Goddess of arts, knowledge and wisdom and as since there are so many students in our house, it is always a big deal. Being half term, all the siblings and cousins were at home and those who lived out made it a point to come home to the family house that day.

We all woke up, brushed our teeth, showered, but unlike usual we didn’t have anything to eat for breakfast (we did drink milk though). We were fasting till the puja was done. Before the puja, which is usually done by my aunt, we were all asked to give one of our books as these items were to be placed along with the image of the Goddess for the puja as well. I guess it’s because to us knowledge and wisdom is contained within those books of ours and as far as we were concerned that was where the Goddess lived. I gave my copy of the Gita and my film script (I’m a filmmaker or at least trying to be one, in case you’re wondering). My cousin who is studying law has her exams soon and being quite concerned about them, she gave just about all her books for the puja, even the extra reading material that she’s never going to read.

After the puja we all went to the temple in our house (which we call God’s Room), sat down in front of the Goddess with our hands folded and repeated the mantras as my aunt said them. After that we all said our own personal prayers (I’d say what it was but it's kinda personal). Once the puja was over our aunt gave us the Prasad which we all ate together. We remained vegetarian for the rest of the day.

Usually on this day, students take a break from studies and, craftsmen lay down their tool and they all contemplate on their work. So we too took a break from working/studying for the day but according to my mum, that could have been just about any day.

Anyways next day we all wrote the alphabets on a small piece of paper, drove down to the river and threw the piece of paper in the river. I’m guess it’s an act of acknowledging that although we receive knowledge, it is part of the greater whole and that is where it eventually goes. Then we all went back to work.

Such festivals and rituals are an important part of the way that Hinduism is practiced and preserved by Hindu families around the world.