The @Ladiesofhive - Contest #159 questions this week are:
1️⃣ What in life are you most passionate about?
~ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 / 𝐎𝐑 ~
2️⃣ What is your favorite holiday of the year, and why?

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My favorite holiday of the year is exactly during this time when we have the Diwali festival. Diwali is just not a one day festival like any other festivals, there are many special days linked to it which are celebrated before the actual day of Diwali like Karwa Chauth, where women keeps a fast for her husband's long life, there is Dhanteras which is considered auspicious to buy gold, there is Laxmi Puja where it is believed that Goddess Lakshmi visits every home to bless them with prosperity and wealth. There is Bhai Dooj which celebrates the bonding of siblings. The starting of the Diwali festival happens 20 days before the actual day of Diwali with the Dusshera festival. Dusshera is a festival which marks the victory of good over the evil. There are many other days during this time which hold some or the other significance. The festival does not have a fixed day every year, as per the Hindu calendrer the date changes. This year the Diwali is on 12th November.

In India Diwali is celebrated in a very grand way. You will see almost every city will be lit up in colorful lights and you will be able to feel the festival vibe everywhere starting a month in advance from the actual day of Diwali. In the school there is 3 weeks of Diwali vacation. I am not sure in the current times how many days they give, but there is surely a Diwali vacation.

During Diwali we celebrate the festival by lighting oil lamps at our door step, making colorful rangoli, bursting fire crackers, people send each other gifts, we buy new things for the home. A lot of office goers with children in school take holidays in this time to travel as well. When I was working in Mumbai, I would do the same, we would celebrate Diwali at home and then immediately after that take off on a mini holiday. Almost all the businesses go very slow in this time. Everyone works just on essentials. It's like the whole of India is celebrating this time.

So you will understand why it is my favorite holiday of the year.

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What in life are you most passionate about?
A lot of you all already know about it. Travelling is my biggest passion in life. I would love to explore the whole of the world. I like to explore different places, culture, lifestyle, food, understand the history of the place, their roots. There is so much that we can learn when we travel. The adventure is never ending. Every place has a story to tell and I would love to know those stories. I am willing to compromise on all the other areas of my life to save on for my travelling.

Travelling for me is just not about long exotic vacations, even a weekend outing in some wilderness or up to the mountains, or exploring some rural parts I would love doing that.

Besides this I am also passionate about working with Crystals. My house is filled with Crystals, I like their energy and having them around. I like to create different Mandalas out of them, some raw crystals I keep them in my garden, work on healing with them. There are so many uses of Crystals and I can just keep going on with them.

Physical fitness is my other passion. I would like to always be fit and healthy, I make sure that I am eating the right foods, my lifestyle is healthy, I am surrounded in good energy and my meditation and yoga practices are done regularly.