Ugadi With Kids

For all children. Even if you do not traditionally celebrate Ugadi. What better way for kids to understand and enjoy the myriad flavours and festivals of India.

• Its the perfect excuse to do some spring cleaning and decorating! Involve the kids as well. Ask them to weed out toys, books and material they do not need. There is no dearth of things to do with these extras - you can donate them to needy kids, give to friends who might need, perhaps even offload / sell to the Parent tree community. With the little pocket money, your child can buy something new or even donate to some children’s organization.
• Visit a needy children’s organization (schools, orphanages etc.) with your children, and some goodies. What joy for these kids! You might be surprised what a fun experience this might be for your kids as well. Also this can be a profound lesson in empathy, philanthropy and gratefulness for your child.
• Talk to kids about Ugadi. You will be surprised how much they can absorb and imbibe. Tell them about the mixture of neem leaves and jaggery and about life being bitter sweet. it is hands on experience about life’s fundamental philosophies. What about making this mixture? Life’s truths will surely hit hard when they taste this. A reminder for all times.

How is Ugadi celebrated?

Ugadi day is heralded by the early morning oil bath ritual - a holistic cleansing and rejuvenation. This is followed by eating a special mixture of neem leaves for bitterness, jaggery for sweetness, tamarind / mango for sourness, salt for saltiness etc. Basically it is a very tangible reminder of the way life is - bitter sweet with its ups and downs - and that all these flavours of life should be accepted with calm and savoured. People wear nice new clothes and get together with extended families and of course no festival is complete without great food. It is also a time for cleaning the house, doing good deeds and donating to the poor and the needy.