Like I’ve mentioned before, I am one of the luckiest souls to be born in a very diverse Indian cultural mix. So from Raksha Bandhan to Holi and Ramlila to Vijayadashmi to Diwali and Christmas, we get to witness and celebrate everything under the sun with much fanfare.

Most Ramlilas in North India are based on the 16th century secondary work on Ramayana, Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas. Ramlila celebrations climax in the Dussehra (Dasara, Vijayadashami) night festivities, where giant effigies of Evil of demon Ravana are burnt with fireworks. It used to be fun to see Ravan burn, and the evil inside us burn with it: it is a symbol of letting go of what you feel ashamed of admitting in public. Let’s just call it our version of the Halloween before Halloween!