Lights. Camera. RCNM.

Carnivals, food, drinks and music! Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras is a two week long fete celebrated in the vibrant city of New Orleans, known as the “Big Easy” owing to its amazing nightlife, fabulous food and spirited music! It is, however celebrated in different European Countries for different periods of time.  Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras evinces the practice of eating richly before lent, a 40 day fast beginning on Ash Wednesday, celebrated by most Christians across the world. The party goers celebrate by wearing colorful costumes and masks and get involved in parades, parties, competitions, etc.  In Ireland and the United Kingdom, the week before Ash Wednesday  is known as Shrovetide, ending on shrove Tuesday. As for the celebratory food, pancakes are a must along with pastries and breads made of sugar, flour and egg.  In Australia, the parade held is known as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and was started to initiate acc...

"A Christmas Carol" (1938) "Yes! Yes I do! I like Christmas! I love Christmas!" — Ebenezer Scrooge Christmas is treated with way more holiday cheer in the west than Diwali here, in the East. Which is why there is a completely different genre for films in Hollywood known as Holiday Films or Christmas Movies. From the impractical wants as presents   "A Christmas Story" (1983) Ralphie (Peter Billingsley): "No! No! I want an official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!" Santa Claus: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."   To the racists “And may all your Christmases be white. Merry Christmas!" – White Christmas, and to the addicts "You’re skipping Christmas! Isn’t that against the law?" — Spike Frohmeyer – Christmas with The Kranks Holiday movies are for all “them” personalities. Starting with ELF (2003), Will Ferrel playing a child huma...

Somewhere amidst the gleeful pyrotechnics and the vibrant revelries, Mother Nature stands neglected and beat. Even as our leaders are signing conventions to save the planet, we're indulging in festivities that are constantly scarring our environment. So what can we do about it? Quite a lot, actually. One attractive solution is to encourage and participate in festivals that are aimed at appreciating and caring for nature. One such festival that has gained global recognition is the Hanami festival of Japan. Every spring, parks across the island nation transform as the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) trees begin to bloom with their iconic pink flowers. Locals and tourists alike throng to Sakura-viewing hot spots in April to imbibe the enchanting atmosphere propagated by the trees in full bloom. The parks are packed with picnic mats as entire communities get together for 'Hanami parties'. The blossoms last for only a couple of weeks so locals often spend entire day...

We all think of Christmas as a joyous and merry occasion where you get gifts from a fat man dressed in red known as Santa. We cut cakes ,put up a Christmas tree, etc etc. One thing that we have all heard about is the naughty list as that it was the main tool used by our parents to blackmail us into doing chores like cleaning up the room. Well the normal perception of people(especially kids) is that if you're on the naughty list then you won't get a gift.  This, however, is not the case in  Finland. In Finland being in the naughty list means being tortured by Santa, or as the Finnish prefer to call him , Krampus .There are 2 entities who take the spotlight during Christmas in Finland, namely, Krampus( The Santa that punishes kids in the naughty list) and Joulupukki (The Santa that does standard Santa stuff). I'll be talking about Krampus today as he is infinitely more interesting than Joulupukki. Krampus is basically the total opposite of how we im...

From candles to carols, chocolates to carnivals-a festival is more than just a break from work. They are days full of joie de vivre for most of us. *parties hard* And as the december festivities are at their apogee right now, we have decided to bring you a short series of blogs that blend right into this atmoshere of celebration.  Come along as we take you on a ride from Finland to New Orleans, a ride that will let you imbibe something that can only be experienced.  Presenting: Festivals On Fleek *ba dum tss* In todays fast-track and detached society, festivals bring people together(physically) and present interesting deviations from the mundane routines of daily life. Almost every religion, region or tribe has is own days of joy and more and more erstwhile obscure traditional holidays are gaining recognition within global community. This goes a long way in safeguarding cultures and traditions from being condemed to oblivion. ...