Are Habit Slaves Born?

Habits of drinking, excessive smoking, overindulgence in coffee or tea; and habitual moods of anger, greed, envy sloth and despondency are usually elected to office by the cumulative numerical strength of unwise hordes of little actions performed without any thought of the after effect of enslavement.

Persons addicted to such habits are not born inelectably to their unfortunate fate; in this or in a past life, knowingly or unknowingly, they have enslaved themselves through constant repetition of certain actions.

The first drink never made a drunkard; the first act of sensuality never made a libertine; the first use of narcotics never made a dope addict. It was a series of mechanical or ill considered repetitions of such misguided actions that elected these griping habits to power. Quantitative strength won against the qualitative voice of attentive reason, which had become weakened through failure to exercise its powers and had thus lost its vote.

Guard yourself, therefore, against the first performance of a wrong act. What you do once you are likely to do again. It is by repetitions that are a habit grow stronger and bigger, like a rolling snowball.Use your reason in all your actions; otherwise you may thoughtlessly convert yourself into helpless salve of undesirable habits.

Navarathri- special(Orissa)

Chandrapada (Orissa), Hundreds of people throng Chandrapada village in Orissa, to watch a traditional bullock race.Century old tradition is the 'Dussehra Bullock race,' in which, at least 50 bullock from the village, decked in embroidered sheets and smeared with vermilion and various paints race against each other.During Dussehra, more than 4000 people gathered in Chandrapada village to watch the bullock race.Bullock owners pamper their bovines round the year and feed them with sesame oil, green fodder and other high calorie diet so that the animals can win the annual competition.The pre-race rituals and feast at times cost rupees 5000 but this does not deter the owner's excitement. First they perform various rituals and serve food to Brahmins. Once the rituals are over, they bathe the bullock and smear colours on them. After this, they decorate them with embroidered sheets that are embedded with beads. Once the bullock is ready, they toss a live fish in front of it. After this, let the bullock loose and they start running. A big feast is organized as the bullock race ends,The bullock race is a much sought after event for the villagers.

However, as modernization sets in within Orissa's hinterland, youth are losing interest in such traditional games.At least 40 to 50 bullocks participated in the festival this year. However, gradually the participation is decreasing as people now consider it unsophisticated and looks down upon the tradition.Several cash prizes are given to the owner of the bullock that completes the round at the earliest.

NAVARTRI - SPECIAL

Navrathri which is known as Dasara in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,Navarathi in Tamil Nadu and Dussehra in the North.
There are five Navaratris devoted to the worship of Shakti (Parvati or Durga). Out of these only three are being celebrated now.

Sharad Navaratri
Commences on the first and ends on the tenth day of the bright half of the lunar month Aswayuja/Asvina.
‘The Navaratri festival has to be celebrated during the bright fortnight of the month of Asvina, in the order of pratipada, etc, until the navami ends,’ says the Dhaumya-vacana.

Vasantha Navaratri
This is celebrated during Vasantha Ruthu (beginning of summer) (March- April). This is also known as Chaitra navaratri as it falls during the lunar month of Chithra.
Navaratri is celebrated in different ways throughout India. In North India, all three Navratris are celebrated with much fervor by fasting on all nine days and worshipping the Goddess Parvati in her different forms. The Chaitra Navratri culmintes in Ram Navami and the Sharad Navratri culminates in Durga Puja and Dussehra. The Dussehra of Kulu in Himachal Pradesh is particularly famous in the North
In West India, Sharad Navratri is celebrated with the famous Garba dance.
Navratri is divided into sets of three days to adore three different aspects of the supreme goddess or goddesses.

First three days
The goddess is invoked as a spiritual force called Durga also known as kali in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects.

Second three days
The Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees inexhaustible wealth. She is the goddess of wealth.

Final three days
The final set of three days is spent in worshipping the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order to have all-round success in life, believers seek the blessings of all three aspects of the divine femininity, hence the nine nights of worship.

Dassehra in Tamil Nadu.
Dasara has always been as much a public festival as a private one in karnataka.
In Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Navarathri is celebrated in homes with a display of dolls called Gombe Kolu in Kannada and Bommai Golu in Tamil.

Bommai Kolu is traditionally a women's festival that Tamilians celebrate during Dasshera. . Every year, a series of steps is set up and kolu bommai or dolls are displayed. These dolls typically depict gods or village scenes and weddings. A kolu can be as simple or as elaborate as one likes. The woman of the house invites other women to come inspect the kolu, eat a few snacks, exchange a little gossip and go home with a couple of small goodies.
During this time, the girls and women make rounds from house to house during those nine days of Navrathri. Sundal is a delicious confection made from bean sprouts and coconut that is traditionally served at kolu. Women set up decorated planks in a corner and place on it all the dolls in the house. This beautiful clay figurines of gods and goddesses are worshipped during Navaratri, viewing art as Divinity. Women traditionally exchange gifts of coconuts, clothes and sweets.

Preparation for assembling the display starts on amawasya at an auspicious time.
The floors are cleaned because once the golu is in place, it is not moved during the entire period of the entire festival.
The sequence of pujas dedicated to each goddess varies from region to region.
Dassara has always been as much a public festival as a private one in Karnataka.

For youngsters, the fascination with Navrathri is the opportunity to display their artistic talent by playing traditional Graba.