Change the Air - Celebrate Freshness this Diwali

Bring home freshness like that of flowers this Diwali with Godrej Aer

If house cleaning and revamp on a weekend takes away your sleep and requires energy, Diwali cleaning starts weeks before and can take away a lot more than just hours of sleep. Cleanliness is an important aspect of any Indian festival. Diwali is round the corner and this festival of lights is grand when people not just paint their walls but polish their furniture too.

People decorate their house with lights and decor items like Lanterns to welcome Goddess Lakshmi. According to traditions and Mythology, Goddess Lakshmi enters only a clean and tidy house. So weeks before Diwali people start cleaning their house religiously and vigorously. I can vouch for this as the same happens at my house and I feel like a servant those days, moving around with a broomstick in hand and cloth on my shoulder.

The weapons of cleanliness

Let me give you some tips to #ChangeTheAir this Diwali and bring some freshness to your life.
1) Get rid of old clothes - This is the most tedious and time eating work, cleaning wardrobe. One should get rid of as many old and torn clothes as they can. Make space for new, let your wardrobe breath a fresh lease of life. One shouldn't get attached with old clothes and keep revamping. It not just gives you a new angle to life but also by cleaning your wardrobe, you get rid of old and welcome the newness. Once you clean your wardrobe, spray Godrej Aer room freshner -  Petal Crush Pink, it will give a smooth and soft feel to you.

2) Kitchen cleaning - Agree that you clean your utensils daily, the slab and even the kitchen floor. Give cleaning some extra love before Diwali. Clean the gas stove, Slab, Windows, Exhaust fan, cupboards, divide the work in days or among the family members and let the kitchen shine like a diamond, after all the basic amenity of festivals live inside the kitchen - the festive food *slurp*

3) Windows and Grills - Cleaning glass windows is a pain, hands down! Always clean the window using little water and no cloth but use newspaper. The windows will be cleaned better and newspaper won't even leave any mark on the glass. If you want to enjoy the crackers up in the air sitting at home through your window, you got to clean them!

4) Reach heights and clean the fans and the lights - Always clean lights and fans with a dry cloth to avoid electric shock or short circuit. It is necessary to clean fans to keep their speed intact and the air clean inside the house. Cleaning tube lights and bulbs from time to time ensure that they remain bright. Don't forget, light is the most important factor during Diwali, after Sweets off course :D

5) Sofa and Curtains - When the guests come home they head to one place - Sofa. Get it cleaned and properly dusted. See to it that they are comfortable to sit on and not dust is visible. Get a new sheet to put on it & change cushion covers. When it comes to curtains, we all know that they attract the most amount of dust from the windows. To ensure that they remain clean, dust them regularly atleast till the Diwali day. Get them washed and pressed once so that they revive the old shine.

6) Balcony/Terrace - When you go out in your terrace or balcony to put Diyas or candles on Diwali night, don't feel bad if you can't step out because its too dirty to do so. Keep the floor of the balcony clean and tidy. These days due to a lot of construction and pollution in the city, Balconies and terrace occupy a lot of dust and dirt, hence they should be cleaned with water and soap atleast every weekend. Spray some "Godrej Fresh Lush Green", Godrej Aer Freshner , and get that feeling of garden in your balcony.

If you think I have left a point which needs a lot of cleaning at home, do point out and leave in your comments :) Let's have a clean and safe Diwali this year, change the air and Happy Diwali!!! :D
This post is for #ChangeTheAir with Godrej Aer.

5 days of amazing Diwali #ChangeTheAir

Clicked by my sis :)

Diyas, crackers, unlimited Mithai, Homes bejeweled with numerous beautiful lights; this is Diwali - my favourite festival of all :) 

Diwali is referred to as the festival of lights. During this festival, prayers are offered to the goddess of wealth and prosperity - Lakshmi. As soon as the Dusshera week is over, begins the saaf-safai of my house. I am the in charge of my house cleaning, windows are cleaned, furniture  each corner of the walls; it’s said that Goddess Lakshmi comes only to those homes which are clean and devoid of any evil or bad things.

Day – 1- Dhan Teras

Do you want that pocket money to never stop coming to you? Worship your money then. Dhan Teras is celebrated to worship money and wealth. This day holds special significance for the businessmen as they buy precious metals like Gold and Silver as customary this day. People usually buy a gold/silver coin and keep it in front of Lakshmi idol during Diwali.

Day – 2- Govardhan Pooja

I have seen celebrations for this day at my Nani’s place long back. It is marked as the day when Krishna defeated Indra. The pooja is celebrated with great zeal. Mountains are made using cow dung and worshipped as a symbol of Govardhan Parvat which Lord Krishna lifted once. Back in my hometown we worship cows on this day.

Day – 3- Choti Diwali

Crackers come home and big boxes of Mithai have made entry at our home. Since a few years we are not bursting any rockets or bombs, but we do have Fuljhadi (Sparklers) and Flower Pots to mark traditions. 5 Diyas are lit and placed in Pooja room, one near a drainage pipe to draw away the evil from home, 1 outside the main door, 1 near a Tulsi plant and the 5^th one under the Peepal Tree. Back in Lucknow, we have “Mitti k Ganesha and Lakshmi” made, and placed in Pooja. Loads of flowers & fragrances fill our home.

Day – 4- Badi Diwali

Burst loads of crackers, have a lavish breakfast with family & a grand pooja in evening. Perfume is sprayed in all the corners to #ChangeTheAir of celebrations. The house is cleaned, esp. the pooja room - Rangoli is made :)

After the Lakshmi Pooja, sweets are sent over to the neighbours and elders give gifts/money to the kids at home. 16 diyas are lit up and placed in every possible corner of the house. Not even a single corner is left in darkness on this night :) after an amazing dinner, we are all out to burst crackers!

Day – 5- Bhai Dooj

Maa narates all of us a traditional old story about Bhai Dooj, followed by Brother ka tika and gift exchanging spree :D followed by an amazing breakfast *slurp*

It is said that on this day, a brother should have food at his sister’s place on this day and both of them should go for a dip in Ganga. It’s a festival of Brothers and sisters and the sisters ensure that brothers are not left empty handed or empty stomachs from their homes.

The amazing 5 days of Diwali at my place is a lot like what I wrote above, like it? :D what about yours? Do share! 

This post is a part of #ChangeTheAir

The Indian festivities & change in the air of celebrations

The one thing I love most about India is the innumerable festivals we celebrate here. The festive celebration is woven with the threads of culture, heritage, traditions and rituals storing the fragrance of different religions and region. Every year is like a change in the air of celebrations #ChangeTheAir when a multi-fragrant basket bursts out in different times at different corners of the world. The fairs and festivals are celebrated with equal enthusiasm around the nation. 

I have often believed that fragrance takes you to memories. Like, fragrance of wet soil reminds me of Monsoons, Godrej Aer Fresh Lush Green reminds me of long walks in the grass garden I had in my school. The other day my mother made some Gulab Jamun and how much my heart ached to go back to those festivals when I go slurp on them :D not to forget the meethi chashni ki mehak :) #Heaven

And it’s not just me who associates festival to fragrances, but my colleagues too. Office being the best place to know about different festivals; we all are in for a treat. From Kerala to Punjab, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, there’s a mix of all.

If fragrance of Cinnamon during Christmas fills your home with deliciousness, the Flowers and Thaal full of Mithai during Diwali & light fragrance of Diyas are enough to immerse myself in the festivals of lights.

 Jasmine takes you to the land of Kerala and the month of Onam when the beautiful ladies adorn themselves with Jasmine Garlands, the table is set with the yummy Sambhar & fragrance of curry leaves reaching your hearts & that huge flower Rangoli. I remember one Onam, amazing memory. My new Godrej Aer Petal crush Pink takes me to it :)

Woody with an underlying fragrance of Caramel in Sesame seeds must remind you of Revdi and Gajak during Lohri. The smell of Jaggery and Neem Flower should take you to Andhra, the festival of Ugadi and Pachadi (chutney).

During Eid, the Mohammad Ali Road will make you stop with the immense smell of Eid delicacies. Indian festivals are indeed associated to fragrances; celebrate the change in air with every occasion.

Do you know a fragrance which takes you back to a celebration? If not, its time to Change the Air of Celebrations :)

This post is a part of #ChangeTheAir with Godrej