How can one start the new year without cleansing there soul a bit?

It just makes the festival its self so much more satisfying!

Do you fast before devali?

a)christmas
b)valentine
c)hari raya
d)deepavali
e)chinese new year
f)mother’s day

I read in the papers that in Kelantan the Muslims are forbidden to wish non-muslims Happy Deepavali, Merry X’mas and Happy Chinese New Year…..is this true? This is so ridiculous ! I bet they are not even allowed to visit them at their homes when it comes to their festival season….
By the way where did the idea ‘duit raya’ come from? From the Chinese who gives ‘ang pow’ during CNY and in some kampungs, they have ‘baraan’. That is the stolen version of the Christian’s carolling, where did they come up with the idea of making ‘kuih ros and muruku’ as their raya cookies? From the Indians celebrating Deepavali…..this is so un-believeable!

we have celebrations like chinese new year, deepavali, national day, hari raya aidil fitri and christmas. The theme is ‘lets celebrate’. This year we want to make it look something different and attractive too. I would much obliged if someone can give new ideas on this.

Question 1 :
Is it haraam muslims celebrate Christmas,Deepavali,and Chinese New Year?

Question 2 :
If it’s haraam and i invited by my friend to celebrate those festival,what excuses should i tell them?

being die-hard fans of rajni, both i and my husband are looking forward to it eagerly. some say this deepavali, some say next tamil new year, some say even later than that. i think maybe those of u in chennai have a better idea. (im a malaysian).
anyway im just hoping that shankar wont spoil it the way he did to sivaji. i didn’t like it.
kumar, dont you think something lacked in sivaji? it was like a cocktail of 3-4 storylines in one movie. so obvious that they couldn’t decide on which is the best story and ended up mixing everything but nothing stood out at last. is the story about bribery? or free education? or loophles in the law? or is it about winning over the villain? everything was so mixed up and in the end nothing stayed in my memory. and the final ‘perfect india’ ending scenes were added along with the credit roll, which im pretty sure went unnoticed by many who were already walking out of the cinema. shreya (particularly her clothes) didnt suit rajni’s image. it was like a ‘too many cook, spoil the soup’ movie. something lacked. the only thing i remember about sivaji now is few of the songs.
thats what im afraid will happen again – two/three ‘jaambavans’ collaborating, there’s a risk of a ‘bad soup’ being served.

Yay! Its diwali, happy diwali everyone! how do you people celebrate diwali? I was just wondering, it’d be interesting to know. Thanks to everyone who answered. Have a safe and joyous diwali, and a happy new year also!

I have noted that MTV India Icon celebrates all the Festivals like Diwali, New Year, Valentine Day and many small occasions but has not shown any interest for Eid despite large number of Muslims in India especially in the Entertainment Business. Additionally even VJs go Gaga over Foreign festivals like Fathers Day and Mothers Day but an indian festival of eid is forgotten.

what is the real definition of close cousins..i have this one cousin who i always see when i’m in india..during my past trips to india, he was always picking us up from the airport..after i came back from india, he called me in 2004 for raksha bandhan, then in 2005 he called me for my birthday, then he called for new year’s..after that, he called me for the occassion of diwali, and started complaining i stopped writing and calling, then suggested i call and write once in a while to catch up..this year, i talked to him in february, three times in july and august on the phone.. i met him during his trip to the usa in july, and i write to him once in a while..when i called him in february, he couldnt take my call and he called me back after 3 days..when i called him for raksha bandhan, the minutes on my phone card ran out, and he called me back within 2 minutes..are we close..

when i wrote to my cousin in india for diwali, i wroe greetings and warm wishes to all of you for a very happy diwali and new year and my cousin replied, "greetings and best wishes to you and everyone..
what does my cousin mean..is he happy i remembered him on the occassion..was he just being nice

my mom’s older brother arranged a girl for my mom’s younger brother’s son to get married on december 9th.. the family didnt call me..but when my mom’s older brother came to visit me, he informed me that his younger brother’s son is getting married..my cousin asked me if i was going to the wedding and said that it would be a good opportunity to meet a lot of relatives..but i never replied if i was going or not..if my mom’s sister-in-law never called us, does that mean i am not invited or does it mean that since my mom’s older brother was in charge of arranging the wedding, my mom’s older brother is in charge of inviting people to the wedding..i saw my cousin in 2007 and 2008..now that there is a wedding, he wants to see me again 2009..how do i know if he is serious or just being nice..i know he will be like i need a break from you..

the us recession is driving me out of this world..i am going to heald college..as of now, th public school system is bad and now they’re thinking of cutting courses and increasing costs of private schools..my mom works for a small company with only 16 employees but 12 were laid off and now only 4..as things are gettng worse, my mom will be out of job..can someone help me..i need some honest opinions..what does everyone think..i’m worried to death..

for diwali, i wrote: greetings and warm wishes to all of you for a very happy diwali and new year and my cousin replied, "greetings and best wish to u and everyone"..does that mean my cousin was happy i remembered them for the occassion..

my uncle fixed up a girl for one of my cousins in india..his marriage is on december 9th..when do people in india send out invitations and call people? will there be a way of knowing if i will get invited..the only invitation i received was by word of mouth..meaning my uncle informed us when he came to visit us in june..what is the probabilty i will not get invited and what is the probabilty i will get invited.

if someone can provide me with reasonmable answers, that would be great.. thanks