Nivedita Basu: For people in the media, I think there is no festival, as such, which gives you a break

Diwali is a festival that we all look forward to every year. It's a celebration that brings people together. People plan in advance how to spend this occasion. Nivedita Basu (VP of content and business alliance, Atrangii TV and OTT) shares her plan for the festival this year.

"So Diwali for me always is being at home with family, doing a nice puja, lighting lamps, calling our family in Delhi, and that is that, our unavoidable Diwali and forever Diwali celebration. Apart from that, obviously, all our friends have particular days for Diwali parties. We like to go there, play cards, eat good food and meet up with friends who we have not met for years," she adds.

Diwali creates lots of noise and air pollution. However, unlike the northern states, Nivedita opines that in Mumbai, only a few people celebrate with crackers.

"The pollution problem is more in the north where it is all about who will burst the maximum crackers, but in Bombay it is actually like you know, people here just do fuljaries and chakries. Here, there is not much space to light rockets and all. There are some hooligans who go crazy and I've seen even rockets landing onto cars and them being very ok about it. But I think the majority of the west which is Bombay and places like these metros don't have the space in order to celebrate. I think more than us cracker makers should find a way to make them eco-friendly," she suggests

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On Diwali shopping, food and Dhanteras, she adds, "So there is no major shopping as such for Diwali. It's just an outfit for my entire family, which is my maids, my didis, my girls, my babies, my parents, an outfit each for all of us. Being a hardcore bong when it comes to sweets, I don't like too many ladoos, pedas and barfis. If I get my Bengali sweets like rasgulla, rasmalai, kheer kadam, I'm more than happy. After my girls were born, I think Dhanteras for us is just about purchasing coins because I'm not too much into jewellery. Years later, if my daughters want to make something on their own, they can use these coins and make whatever jewellery they want on their own."

Ask Nivedita about her Diwali outfit and she says, "I will be wearing Indian outfits because all my friends design Indian outfits and I look forward to that."

Festive time is fun but hectic, too. "For people in the media, where you have to put content out for every day, I think there is no festival, as such, which gives you a break. You just switch with people who can work during those days, or you can work or compensate on other days for them, and we have to balance our work. I mean, we make sure that we spend enough time at home and at work because that also is a Dhanteras for us. That's where we get our means of income and, livelihood and survival. So we don't want to not work on that day. I make sure that I am at work on that day, and I think it's for everyone, as everyone manages. Of course, the majority of the people do get breaks, but like I said, we are in the media and behind the scenes, so we don't have the option and privilege of taking long breaks, but we manage," she ends with a smile.

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