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Bhopal kids perform Halloween
by R.Sahu

     Bhopal: Around the world the Halloween festival is associated with Western countries. But many kids in a Kindergarten school in Bhopal celebrated this festival with full enthusiasm to overcome their fear about ghosts. The objective, in organising the festival in the school, was to help children overcome their fears of ghosts and monsters by having them enact the beings they fear the most. The school teachers and voluntary organisations in Bhopal helped children by initiating the children into Halloween, a distinctly western tradition. "Children have always been afraid of ghosts. They are frightened by elders who usually tell them that if they do this or that a ghost will come. But I think after this event the children will not fear ghosts. Now they know there are no ghosts. Even if ghosts do exist they will shy away after seeing these kids," said Shashi Keshwani, Administrator, Pretty Petal School. Hobgoblins, ghosts and scary-hairy creatures were the order of the day for tiny tots of the Pretty Petal School as they celebrated Halloween, a festival devoted to pranks usually played by the young dressed in costumes going from door to door begging for treats. Enthusiastic children dressed in costumes danced to spooky tunes and spent the day playing pranks and scaring one another. "I enjoyed becoming a ghost", said Ishaa a three-year-old. The word "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honour of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year. Legend has it that on this day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died in the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living. Generally celebrated in the United States, Canada and the British Isles, Halloween or November Eve is observed on October 31, the evening before All Saints Day.