15 January was Sankranti here. Makar Sankranti is one of the biggest Hindu festivals. It's the day when the winter ends and the day starts to get longer.
Wikipedia says...
Makara Sankranti or Maghi, is a festival day in the Hindu calendar, dedicated to the deity Surya (sun). It is observed each year in the lunar month of Magha which corresponds with the month of January as per the Gregorian calendar and is a day the people of India celebrate their harvest. It marks the first day of the sun's transit into Makara (Capricorn), marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. Makara Sankranti is one of the few ancient Indian festivals that has been observed according to solar cycles, while most festivals are set by the lunar cycle of the lunisolar (चंद्र – सौर) Hindu calendar.[6] Being a festival that celebrates the solar cycle, it almost always falls on the same Gregorian date every year (January 14/15), except in some years when the date shifts by a day for that year.
So before and after Sankranti, people would greet by saying 'Happy Sankranti'. I couldn't actually differentiate the atmosphere between 'normal' and festival. But I heard many people travelling to their hometowns. And at the Forum Mall, they held a Rangoli competition for Sankranti..... We saw some beautiful ones and I was asked for an interview. Hahahahah I said many things with 'Happy Sankranti' in the end. I don't know how they are gonna use that video.....! And we could spot many cows in turmeric powder!!!
Yellow cows are a common sight during January and February in India's southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu where the Sankranthi or Pongol festival is celebrated. ... To give thanks to these beasts of burden people bathe their cows in turmeric water, believed to have medicinal properties.
On the Sankranti day, I went alone to have lunch and to the movie. I felt bad with my back and my mood was down so I stayed home for a while and went out alone. In a local restaurant where I went for 'special North Indian thali', all the serving ladies were in very fancy clothes. It was such a nice scene. They were working on a public holiday but they were enjoying the special day with beautiful clothes and make-up. And I watched a periodic movie 'Tanhaji'. Unlike Good Newwz, there was no subtitles!!!! Argh... but I enjoyed the visuals and production.
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