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We lived in Seychelles for a little more than two years (2008 – 10); the country of aquamarine seas, pristine beaches and largest NUT in the world – the Coco-de-Mer. There are 155 islands but almost 95% out of a total population of 86,000 people live on the three biggest islands – Mahe, Praslin and La Digue. We lived on the biggest Mahe island which is approx 26 km long and 8 km wide – a small piece of land in the mighty Indian Ocean with simple caring people living a laid back country like lifestyle without multi storied buildings and fast food outlets.
We decided to visit Singapore during the Christmas Vacations of 2008, where my sister-in-law used to stay. There were very few direct flights to other countries from Seychelles and Singapore was one of them. We were really eager to go to Singapore. After a lot of planning, the day came when we were supposed to go board the flight. We started our journey at mid night from the small international airport where one does not find more than 2/3 airplanes. There were not many passengers in the aircraft despite the Christmas season. Next day morning we reached the huge Singapore airport. There were 20-25 aircrafts standing at a time, which belonged to different airlines. It had been some time since we had seen multi-storeyed buildings and we were amazed to see the huge buildings of the city nation. Especially, since by Seychelles standards of 3 – 5 storeyed buildings these were very huge buildings. We reached home located in a beautiful residential area of tall buildings. There were several children’s play areas and parks in that area. Arush (my son) was really excited to see this. Shishir (my husband) had already planned our sightseeing trips from the next day. These places were quite far from each other. Public transport is an extremely effective way of moving around in the land of the Merlion. We commuted by the metro as well as the city busses. Now again in Seychelles there are no trains. So this was again one of the many surprises for Arush. We started with the National Zoo located in a heavily forested and now a sweet home to several species of animals and birds. In Seychelles we get to see only dogs, cats, and huge turtles and Arush had seen all other animals only in pictures. So he was very excited and we really got tired answering his numerous questions.
In the next couple of days we saw the Jurong Bird Park, the Science Centre and the Snow City. Seychelles and Singapore both are very close to the equator and one finds ice only in refrigerators. However, this huge complex was filled with ice and snow. We had to hire warm clothing for the one hour stay inside the complex. We enjoyed playing in the ice, and sliding down the icy slope on automobile tyre tubes.
The highlight of the country is the artificial Sentosa Island with its joy rides, multifarious enjoyment arenas and a large aquarium. We get so engrossed here – we just forget ourselves. One full day is not enough to enjoy and experience all that there is there on this island. We came back on another evening for the spectacular Sound, Light & Laser show. The beauty of this show cannot be described in words.
One does not get lost in this country at any time since every metro station, bus stand or other public place has simple maps and other relevant instructions. After an enthralling experience of eight days we returned to the Changi Airport – one of the largest, busiest and most efficient airports of the world. It was Christmas Time and the whole country was beautifully lit up. The airport too was elegantly decorated. We had really lovely and nice sightseeing experience in this country. We returned to our toy town capital Victoria in the island nation of Seychelles. This was a totally different world altogether.
स्त्री जीवनाची मंगल पूजा बांधून तिने केलेल्या उपकाराची कृतज्ञता व्यक्त करण्याची व पूर्वी नऊ दिवस युद्ध करून देवीने महिषासुराचा वध केला व सर्व धरतीला त्याच्या अन्यायातून मुक्त केले, त्या आनंदाप्रीत्यर्थ अश्विन शु. १ ते १० असा १० दिवसांचा उत्सव संपन्न होतो. सर्व धर्मात शक्ती उपासना केली जाते. इस्लाम धर्मात रोशनी= चिराग म्हणजे ज्योतीची, पारशी लोकांत अग्यारीमधून अग्निकुंड सतत धगधगत असते व ख्रिचन धर्मात ग्रेट मदर या आदि शक्तीला पूज्य मानतात. तर हिंदू धर्मात श्री महासरस्वती, श्री महालक्ष्मी व श्री महाकाली यांची पूजा केली जाते. बंगाल प्रांतात दुर्गा पूजा फार मोठ्या प्रमाणात संपन्न केला जातो. चंद्र वंशातील राजांचे राज्य येथे होते. बळीच्या पाच पुत्रांनी एकत्र येऊन बंग नावाच्या स्वतंत्र देशाची स्थापना केली व शक्ती देवीची आराधना केली या स्मृत्यर्थ १० दिवस चालणारा दुर्गापूजा उत्सव संपन्न केला जातो. दहा 
दिशांचे प्रतिक असलेले दहा हात धारण केलेल्या या देवीला ते महामाया म्हणून अल्पना या वैशिष्ठ्यपूर्ण कलाकृतीने संपन्न असलेल्या रांगोळ्या काढून या उत्सवात अधिक रंग भरविला जातो. माता, मातृभूमी व जगन्माता जगदंबा हि भारतीय संस्कृतीची श्रीमंती असून व्यक्तिगत, कौटुंबिक, सामाजिक, व्यावहारिक, ऐहिक व पारलौकिक अशा पातळीवर देवीची आराधना करण्याची पद्धत आहे. 
नवरात्र व विधी : - गरबा,हदगा , रास दांडिया, भोंडला, कीर्तन, भजन, पूजन, गोंधळ व महाआरत्यांच्या कार्यक्रमाने मंगलमय वातावरण निर्माण करणारे नवरात्र म्हणजे शक्तीपुजेचा महोत्सव होय. बंगालप्रांतात तर महाराष्ट्रातील श्री गणेशोत्सव सारखा 'दुर्गापूजा' उत्सव साजरा केला जातो. गुजरातप्रांतात रंगीत घागरे घातलेल्या आणि गरबा नृत्यावर टिपऱ्या खेळणाऱ्या गुर्जर युवती गावागावात आनंदोत्सव साजरा करतात. 
नार्वात्राचा प्रारंभ अश्विन शुद्ध प्रतिपदेला करतात, परंतु कधी कधी दोन प्रतिपदा येतात. अशावेळी पहिली प्रतिपदा सूर्योदय होत असताना असावी, परंतु अमाव्स्यायुक्त असेल तर ती दुसऱ्या दिवशी घ्यावी. नवरात्रात पहिल्या दिवशी घटस्थापना होते. पंचमीला ललिता पंचमी, अष्टमीला घागरी फुंकणे आणि महालक्ष्मी पूजन व होम, नवमीला खड्ग नवमी म्हणजे शस्त्रपूजन होते. नवरात्रात जे ९ दिवस उपवास करतात व देवीच्या मंदिरात घटी बसवतात ते १० व्या दिवशी म्हणजे विजयादशमीला देवीला नैवेद्य दाखवून घाटाचे उत्थापन करून सुवासिनी व ब्राह्मण यांना पुरणपोळीचे जेवण घालून उपवासाची सांगता करतात. देवीला ९ दिवस ९ माळा अर्पण केल्या जातात. त्यात प्रामुख्याने विडयाच्या पानाच्या तसेच तरवड या झाडाची फुले व पानांच्या माळा वहिल्या जातात. सातव्या दिवशी पाप्ड्यांचा फुलोरा देवीला अर्पण करून तो मंडपीला बांधतात. घटाशेजारी ९ दिवस अखंड नंदादीप लावतात. त्याने घरातील वातावरण प्रदूषण मुक्त होते. 
