CHENNAI: Content writer Priya Raghavan’s days are usually packed. But during Navratri , she ensures that she takes time off her busy schedule. Priorities change, profession takes a backseat and Priya winds up work early so that she can visit friends, relatives and neighbours who have invited her home.It’s a time when mundane chats on social media make way for conversations over tea and sundal. When young women exchange recipes and rediscover the joy of bonding over gifts, golu and ‘gamagams’. “I visit at least three homes every day. And also learn to cook new dishes every year,” says Priya, who has been celebrating the festival for the past 21 years. It’s during the festive season that her friends circle grows. “I get to spend time with my neighbours and friends who hardly see me,” says the content writer.In a world where digital invites are the norm, Priya makes an effort to call on people personally. “Technology has ruined inter-personal relationships and I am against phone invites. Even if you do choose to send invites on WhatsApp, nothing should stop you from calling and inviting people,” she says.Homemaker Lakshmi Sriram, a resident of Alwarpet, says she waits for Navratri because she gets to meet her neighbours who are otherwise busy with work and domestic chores. “With families becoming nuclear, meeting our own relatives has become a huge deal. So how can we expect neighbours to take time out for us? But over the years, I have added more friends to my list. We have to make an effort to keep in touch with loved ones. No matter how you feel, just get up, dress up, mingle and stay relevant in people’s lives; that’s my motto,” says Lakshmi.There is also a healthy competition in the neighbourhood during the nine days, says Padmini Srinivasan, who is a novice to this tradition. “When my daughter was young, I devoted all my time to take care of her. And I felt I have become this person who enjoys being alone more than mingling with other people. When people used to invite me, I used to get irritated but then I realised that I have changed,” she says.That’s when she decided to have a golu at her place and get back in touch with friends. “Earlier, even if I saw my own neighbour on the road, I wouldn’t recognize them and they used to think I am arrogant. But now I have made a dozen friends who keep in touch with me throughout the year, thanks to Navratri,” says Padmini. “Since my husband travels frequently, my friends are my go-to people.”Some women are also using the festive season to ensure that the younger generation remains in touch with their roots. Priya has purchased trendy bags, and plants to gift middle-aged friends and kolam kuzhhals or kola thattus for girls to learn to draw kolams or rangoli.“I have also introduced golu themes this year. Children have forgotten Ramayana and Mahabharata, so I have chosen certain portions from the epics, such as Sita crossing the Lakshman Rekha or the Sundaragandam to educate them.” She feels that each passing generation forgets traditional practices and promoting them during festivals may help revive an interest in the young.

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