Ved
and Friends Celebrate Dussehra and Diwali is a great children’s book
which tells the readers of all the different reasons and religions,
celebrate the same day. Diwali is one of the most celebrated Hindu
festivals across the globe, but it isn’t celebrated for the same reasons
even within the Hindu community!
The
book Ved and Friends talks about these various reasons the festivities
are celebrated, and it’s a great way to introduce children to South
Asian Culture and literature. The book was officially launched at the
Consul General of India Office on Monday September 25th 2017, by the Honourable Consul General
of India, Mr. Dinesh Bhatia. The book has been on Amazon’s Top 10
Bestsellers list since its availability in the market.
Ved and Friends is on the Top Ten Bestseller List on Amazon's Book on Indian Culture
Having
moved to Ontario, Canada in 2009, Author Diksha Pal Narayan has worked
in the Canadian and Indian Television industries before taking a
sabbatical from work to be a stay at home mother to her child who she
and her husband were blessed with in 2013. While trying to maintain a
healthy balance between her cultural heritage and life in Canada, she
was unable to find relatable content to read to her son which was
entertaining, informative and attractive to a young child. So when you
don’t see what you want, you create it yourself, and that’s exactly what
she did! Coming from a culturally diverse family herself where she is
originally from a small
mountain retreat in the Himalayas, her husband hails from the southern
province of Kerala in India. The couple were from the same country, had
the same religion but that’s where all similarities ended as they spoke
different languages and the same festivities had different reasons for
celebrations for them. When they had their son Ved, they thought of
going a step further and including ALL the festivities into their son’s
life thus giving birth to the idea of the book- Ved and Friends
Celebrate Dussehra and Diwali.
People
have asked Diksha why would you need to write a book about these
festivities, when there is so much information available about it on the
net? She responds, “Why not? There probably is information about a lot
of things on the internet, but the joy of holding a book in your hand,
engaging with your children, talking to them, reading to them is a joy I
was blessed with as a child and I would love to give today’s generation
the same opportunity to experience. Dussehra and Diwali are festivals
which roughly span for 20 days while the preparations make it a whole
month affair, so why not teach our children the reason we celebrate it.
Our Bengali friend celebrates Durga Puja during the time we celebrate
Golu Festival while our Gujarati friends celebrate Navratri and dance
the garba during the 9-day festival leading up to Dussehra. Why not tell
our kids about the reasons why their friends celebrate the same day as
we do?”
“Look
around you, your neighbourhood, your place of work, the schools your
kids go to- it’s proof of our diversity and multiculturalism is in the
Canadian blood. With this book, I hope to teach children about the
diversity we have in our culture too, and the short stories with morals
in them hopefully when taught at an early age can help them make better
decisions in life to come,” adds Diksha.
This year Navratri is between 19th of September until the 30th of September.
Dusshera is on the 30th of September.
Diwali is on the 19th of October.
To know more about the book please visit www.dikshapnarayan.com
Phone: 647.990.7801
Diksha
is available for interview to talk about the book Ved and Friends
Celebrate Dussehra and Diwali, the festival of Diwali, and
multiculturalism and diversity are seen in the festivities.
Thank you for your time.
Diksha
Diksha Pal Narayan
Author,
Ved and Friends Celebrate:
Dussehra and Diwali
Call: 647-990-7801 
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