As a ritual/festival, Halloween is celebrated on October 31 worldwide. Since this year, Diwali/Kali Puja will be celebrated on October 31, 2024, so, on October 30, 2024, in the gated community, Hyderabad, where I have been living with my family for 7/8 years, Halloween was celebrated on October 30, 2024. In the gated community known as Libdom Luxury Villas (Raj Reddy Valley), Bandlaguda Jagir, Hyderabad, children, irrespective of age and gender, celebrate different festivals and rituals, including Halloween. Before writing about the Halloween ritual enjoyed by our campus children, let me highlight a few points about our gated community. This gated community is spread over 17 acres of land with indoor and outdoor games, a gym, a park, a swimming pool, a function hall, etc. Altogether, 190 families (a few might be unoccupied) live in this gated community; each has a duplex house and little land surrounding it. In the land, all nurture flowers, some vegetables, fruits, etc. The most highlighting point is that this gated campus consists of different religions, castes, and languages (people of various States), representing a mini-India in the true sense. On October 30, 2024, children enjoyed Halloween by dressing vis-Ă -vis wearing masks like ghosts, vampires, witches, animals, and others.
Around 70 children, irrespective of age and gender, participated in the Halloween. It is noteworthy to mention that kids and teenagers, by forming groups – each group consisting of 7 to 8 children based on their age group and friendship enthusiastically visited almost every villa (wearing different dresses or masks as mentioned already), and elders of each villa spontaneously provided them candy, chocolate, or sweets. As a senior citizen, I thoroughly enjoyed their enthusiasm, happiness, joy, and cheerfulness. Regarding Halloween, I am presenting a few lines collected from Britannica (britannica.com/story/why-do-we-celebrate-halloween). “Halloween has been around for more than a thousand years. Originally a religious observance, it became increasingly secular over the centuries until its religious trappings disappeared. Today, Halloween is considered a holiday for dress-up and fun, especially for children. Halloween’s origins can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, held on November 1 in contemporary calendars. It was believed that on that day, the souls of the dead returned to their homes, so people dressed in costumes and lit bonfires to ward off spirits. This way, popular Halloween tropes such as witches, ghosts, and goblins became associated with the holiday. In the 7th century CE, Pope Boniface IV created All Saints Day, originally celebrated on May 13. A century later, Pope Gregory III moved the holiday to November 1, likely as a Christian substitute for the pagan festival of Samhain. The day before, the saintly celebration became known as All Hallows Eve or Halloween. Though the holiday began in Celtic regions of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France, it quickly spread to other parts of the world. The first American colonists in New England were forbidden to celebrate it for religious reasons, though it enjoyed some popularity in the Southern colonies. By the 1800s, fall festivals marking the seasonal harvest incorporated Halloween elements, and Irish immigrants escaping the devastating Potato Famine brought with them many Halloween traditions that remain today.”
Incidentally, this year, on October 30, 2024, there is a ritual associated with Hindu belief known as Bhoot Chaturdashi Tithi. There are different opinions about Bhoot Chaturdashi Tithi. Many people also think that the soul of the ancestors comes to the mortal world on this date. Anyway, in all cases, there is a reference to the arrival of evil forces. Fourteen lamps are lit to get rid of this evil energy. The light of these fourteen lamps is believed to destroy all evil forces.
I am a senior citizen, 68 years old, so I was happy to observe our children’s enthusiasm for performing Halloween.
( I express my deep sense of gratitude to Dr. P. Vidya Sagar, Forensic Expert,
Villa 161, Libdom Villa, for organising the event)
Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad
Track2Training 
You must be logged in to post a comment.