Diwali preparations.

Diwali is approaching. From the time I have come back to India, every year it has been one of the awaited days. Like many other festivals, Diwali is best enjoyed with loads of friends and family members. With due apologies to all the environmentalists, we have always loved the color, light and noise of Diwali. We have regularly indulged in bursting crackers to our hearts content, lighted our house with many different types of lights, and rangolis around the house have colored the occasion like never otherwise. This time however, it is going to be different.

For instance, for the first time in my life I am in India during Diwali, and have no woman folks at home (who perform the puja, do Aarti, and so on). As a matter of fact have no company. People at home have gone to different places, and incidentally I am alone at home. But I am not much disappointed. For, I am planning for something new.

When I was in my graduate school, I used to undertake long fasts (unlike the short-one-day fasts that I undertake every week, these are slightly longer), lasting upto four days. After coming back to India, I have not been able to do long-fasts even once. This time, with family away for a longer period, I am trying to see if I can undertake a long fast. Minimum 4 days, maximum 5 days. Starting yesterday (Wednesday) night, the goal is to do a water-only fast till Monday evening. Yesterday evening, before I started the fast, I had a fruit+milk+yogurt based last supper. Such a supper, keeps the body light. Today is the first day. Not sure, if I can do it or not. But I am pretty excited (and also a bit anxious). What are the goals? Well, many.

The goals I have in my mind are too many. Some of them are obvious, some of them are hard, some of them are hard to imagine. But well, I like to have lots of goals, so that I have motivation for further work. Here is a list of goals that I think I have:

• Increase in my focus. One of the things I want to achieve is to increase my focus in whatever work I am doing. Currently, I feel that my mind is hyper-excited most of the time, and that leads to less than optimum results.
• I have a chronic dandruff problem. I feel that fasting may slowdown the dandruff. Why/How? I do not know. But I feel so!
• I feel that fasting helps reduce the work body does (digestion etc). Thus, may help increase the awareness of senses. My prior experiences support this thought. But no guarantee.
• Weight loss: As a byproduct of fasting, weight loss is a guarantee (though, the weight loss is typically short-term and hard to realize in such short period fasting - People who undertake longer fasting, e.g. 10 days water fasting / 30-40 days juice fasting etc report severe weight loss). Since my body weight does not vary much, I don't expect a significant weight loss.
  
• Reduction in fat: One of the main advantages of water/juice fasting is that body starts using the reserves (that is fat). Hopefully, because of this fast some of the reserves will be used up.
  
• I want to use the time I save in spiritual reading. Every minute I save in cooking/eating/cleaning, I want to use in reading Ramayana and Bhagawat Geeta, and meditating. I hope that this Diwali time fasting lets me illuminate my inner self.
  
• I want to make stupendous progress in two side projects that I am doing.
  
• I want to test if my body can sustain such fasts.
• Fasting gives me a kick. Especially, after the fast has ended.
  

Please note that, many of these goals may not be achievable by fasting. But still. they still are part of my goals. As I have a feeling that they are somehow interlinked.