Celebrating "A Divine Day, In A Divine Way" The Joy Of Janmashthami @ KIAMS

Online, August 26, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Janmashthami is the annual commemoration of the birth of Lord Krishna - the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is celebrated on the eighth day of the month of Bhadra, according to the Hindu calendar.

Over the years, Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies (KIAMS) has been following the tradition of celebrating Janmashthami on a grand scale. The onus of making a grand success of the event lies with the junior batch which, this year, was Batch-15. Our entire batch got together to make this event a lifelong memory for everyone. The day before Janmashthami, the shopping for all the paraphernalia and decorations for the puja had been carried out in great detail. The coordinators visited the market in person to order the suitable sweets, flowers, rangoli, ghee, diyas... right down to the 'handi' for the 'Dahi Handi' duel!

On the day of Janmashthami, no sooner had classes concluded, than our entire batch took off for the puja preparations. The girls took over the responsibility of decorating the Rotunda. Some of the boys were busy erecting the 'Dahi Handi' structure; this later turned out to be the highlight of the entire festival. A section of our batch was managing the Mess, as most of the students were fasting for the day and needed to be served with food in consonance with the practice of fasting. By 7 PM, the entire Rotunda was aglitter, with Lord Krishna on his 'Palki', covered with 3 beautifully woven garlands. The Rotunda roof was adorned with colourful awnings, and an exquisite rangoli transformed the Rotunda floor.

The puja started at 8pm with the arrival of Professor R.N.V. - a former faculty member of KIAMS, who had traditionally always conducted the puja. Professor R.N.V., immaculately dressed in his dazzling white dhoti and matching white shawl, looked nothing less than a perfect priest. Every one of us was in our ethnic outfits, adding to the great atmosphere. The Rotunda lit up with 11 diyas and melodious devotional songs.

Finally, the puja was successfully concluded at around 9pm, with the Aarti and distribution of Prasad - the food of the Gods. It was hard not to join in when Professor R.N.V. was invoking the blessings of the Gods in his mellifluous voice in the form of Bhajans...

And then began the show! Everyone moved out of the Rotunda and into the rectangular garden, as it was time for 'Dahi Handi'! After several disjointed attempts which understandably failed, students of B-14 & B-15 decided to do away with the senior-junior bit for the time being, and shook hands to jointly break the 'Dahi Handi' successfully! All just in time, as those who were fasting were looking forward more to the handis of food than the Dahi Handi. and the traditional game successfully concluded, all of us rushed to the Mess for our well-earned Dinner.

Post dinner, we regrouped for a photography session with our small and newly-born 'Kanha' (as Krishna was fondly addressed as a child). Much as we wanted to let the good times linger on, by 11pm most of us were trickling back to our rooms, tired and exhausted. The illuminated diyas, though, continued to glow, piercing the heart of the night, playing hide-and-seek with the smiling face of little 'Kanha', spreading the message of joy, peace and knowledge into the entire KIAMS campus.

Debashish Sarkar
Batch 15, KIAMS