In our fast-paced world everything is automatic and ready to use, from the cars we drive to the food we eat, everything happens with little thought and effort. So are our celebration of festivals and rituals, which are followed with no second thought on the reason behind each tradition. The Navratri fasting for instance, is carried on by many as a habituated ritual without a thought behind why only certain types of foods are consumed during this period, and why the idea of fasting emerged. So, what got our ancestors into creating a tradition that ensured we eat at certain times of the day, include/exclude certain items in our diet, indulge in certain activities (Golu, Dandiya, Ramleela,etc.), based on different regions? Let’s probe and understand.

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