Nepali’s Tihar (Deepawali)

The Nepali festival ‘Tihar’ is also known by many names such as Dipawali, Bhai Tika, Laxmi Puja and Festival of Lights. Tihar is one of the biggest festivals in the Hindu calendar and marks the arrival of the new moon starting a new year in the Hindu calendar. This five-day festival is a time of great celebration, religious ceremonies and feasting, with families eating special traditional meals and worshipping different animals.

The first day, devoted to crows (Kag in Nepali), is called ‘Kag Tihar’. Early in the morning on the first day of Tihar, each family prepares a good meal. Each member of the family carries the first portion of the meal outside the house on a platter. The crows come down and partake of the feast. According to Hindu mythology, crow was a messenger of the Lord of Death, Yama. There is a popular Nepali superstition about crows too: when crows caw, it indicates that sadness is approaching. On this day, crows are worshipped and kept happy. So, Tihar is also about appreciating animals around us.

On the second day of Tihar, Kukur (dogs), ornamented with flower garlands and red tika (special temporary mark on forehead), are offered enormous meals. On this day, people pray to the dog as the guardian of their homes. In Hinduism, it is believed that dogs guard the kingdom of the netherworld just as they guard our everyday homes.

The third day of Tihar is about worshiping the mother of the universe - cow. According to Hinduism, the human infant is fed breast milk by its human mother for less than three years. After weaning, the cow acts as the surrogate mother providing milk for the rest of a human’s life - through childhood, adulthood and old age. Cows are the mothers of the universe, considered sacred animals. The cow puja is performed by placing a tika on the cow’s head and adorning it with a flower garland, and offering a good meals.

The third days, is one of the most important days of the festival, is Laxmi Puja when the Goddess of Wealth (Laxmi) is worshipped in every household. On this third day of the Tihar, almost every house becomes a spectacle of lights. Pictures and icons of Laxmi are placed and worshipped in a puja room and puja is performed using flowers, incense, oil lamps, colored powders, bell and money. Laxmi Puja is performed at sundown using red mud. The puja is often performed by a female in the family. She uses her hand covered with red mud to make a symbolic foot-print from the yard to the doorway at the entrance to the home.

Laxmi Puja is not only performed in households but equally by business houses. Usually the company's cashier or owner performs the puja, with participation by the company’s staff. During the Tihar period, the whole office including compounds are lit up with various electrical lights, candles and oil lamps.

The evening of Laxmi Puja day is made magical not only by the lights but also by echoes of a special song known as Bhailo or Bhailini. Bhailini is sung only on this day in the whole year. A group of girls get together and go around singing Bhailini from door to door, giving benediction to the family in return for money and homemade treats. On the fourth day of Tihar, male members sing the Deusi or Deusuray. A group of males get together, carry whatever musical instruments they can play, and go around singing Deusi from door to door.

The fourth day of the Tihar is also about worshiping yourself. This puja (worshipping) is known as Mahapuja. This is also the first day of the special annual calendar of an ethnic group known as Newar residing in Nepal. Also a popular ritual of the day is the Govardhan Puja or Goru Tihar (Oxen Worshiping). They are worshiped on this day as they plow lands and help grow crops to sustain life.

On the final day, also known as Bhai Tika Day, sisters give tika (a mark made from colored powder placed on one's forehead) and mala (a necklace of flowers) to brothers along with wishes for long life and prosperity. Then the brothers also present gifts to sisters. The brothers give gifts such as clothes or money to sisters while the sisters give a special gift known as Sagun which is made of dry fruits, nuts, candies and a fantastic Tihar feast.

Tihar is also the time for brothers and sisters to recall their continued wish for a long and a happy life to one another. To sum up the Tihar festival, it is the festival when sisters wish a long life to their brothers (Bhai)!

(PhotoBahitika:-ekantiur.com)

Health insurance in India



Medical expenses are sky high these days, but they were never ever. Even a minor treatment or an appointment with the doctor might cost a lot of money. Health insurance is insurance that pays for medical expenses. It is sometimes used more broadly to include insurance covering disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs.

Health insurance is a must; it saves money and covers unexpected calamities. Health insurance comes in handy to meet emergencies of severe ailment or accident. Life is unpredictable, insurance can make it safe and secure from sudden and huge liabilities. Health insurance is affordable and carries the assurance and freedom from insecurities that threaten life every now and then. It may be provided through a government-sponsored social insurance program, or from private insurance companies. It may be purchased on a group basis by a firm to cover its employees or purchased by individual consumers.

While health insurance policies in India are mostly provided by general insurance companies, life insurers contribute about five per cent to the overall health insurance business. Health insurance market in India was at around Rs 7,000 crore in 2008-09 and is expected to grow to Rs. 41,586 crore by 2016-17. Health insurance penetration in India is very low, as over 90 per cent of the total Indian population has no health insurance cover.

In a move to control health cover costs, insurance companies are bargaining hard with hospitals for a standard rate card. Market leader in India, New India Assurance has told corporate customers that cashless reimbursement will be only to the extent of the negotiated price and if any policyholder goes to a hospital, which charges more, the difference will have to be borne by the policyholder. The rate card circulated provides a matrix of standard charges for secondary and tertiary providers in the premium and non-premium categories across various procedures. The tariff rates vary for metros where provision is made for higher costs.

The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) has embarked upon a nationwide awareness programme on health insurance in order to educate the public on its benefits, according to a top IRDA official in India. Since there was not enough response for its health insurance schemes from consumers, IRDA would conduct a nationwide awareness programme.This was mainly to educate the public on health insurance policies offered by insurance companies and the campaign would be launched shortly.

Though health insurance has been evolving at a fast pace in the country, it has not reached expected levels. With the number of people voluntarily taking health insurance at 4-5 per cent, there is a big challenge relating to the penetration of health insurance in India. Lack of awareness, affordability issues and enrollment are barriers; the formalities required are particularly the main reasons for this low penetration.

On the insurance companies' side, the challenge is to pay huge claims while the premium is comparatively low, as also to address the need for issuing policy documents in local languages. The health insurance business is seen as extremely capital-intensive. Health insurance is the fastest-growing segment in the country with annual premium collections of over Rs 6,000 crore. But despite the high growth, the business is a huge challenge for insurers because of the high losses over soaring medical expenses.

The increasing cost of health insurance coverage combined with the rising cost of modern dentistry is why more and more consumers are opting for Reduced Fee for Service or Discount Health Plans. To millions of people, they are an ideal form of health insurance coverage when insurance benefits are not available through their employer. While some plans are increasing the annual maximum coverage amounts, many plans have not increased their maximum coverage amounts in years.
WellPoint health insurance Company, which has encouraged its employees to lobby against health care reform, is now cutting their benefits. The insurance giant plans to raise deductibles and premiums for some of its employee health benefit schemes. Companies are blaming the recession for the cuts.

Although the general principle of insurance is population solidarity, the economic behaviour of insurance companies that are run for profit often seems to go against this very principle. Relative to the life business, non-life insurance is relatively less capital intensive. For the purpose of regulation, health insurance companies are classified as non-life companies.



According to health insurance expert, educating customers on health insurance "has a long way to go" and awareness on insurance should be introduced at school and college levels. Audience should to ask questions to insurance agents before filling up policies. They should take adequate precaution when buying health plans.

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Celebrating festivals in India





India is a land of cultural as well religious diversity, known for its festivals. Being a multicultural and multi-religious society, India celebrates holidays and festivals of various religions. Therefore, every Festival in India is in itself an epitome of cultural and religious amalgamation. The festival season is an excellent time to get a glimpse of Indian life and culture. During the festival season, many types of trade shows, cultural exhibitions, music concerts, dance and drama performances, cultural events, business exhibitions are organized.
India has three national holidays: Independence Day (August 15), Republic Day (January 26) and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2). States and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic demographics. Other popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Dussehra and the Islamic festivals of Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Mawlid an-Nabī which are celebrated throughout the country. Sikh festivals such as Guru Nanak Jayanti, Christian festivals like Christmas and Easter, and Jain festivals like Mahavir Jayanti and Paryushan are celebrated in certain areas where these religions have a significant following.
In the era of globalization, the whole world has become one common place, with people of one country openly welcoming the cultures of other nations. As a result, no festival can be considered as unique to one country or religion. In such a scenario, people are no longer biased towards those from other ethnic backgrounds and towards foreign festivals. Just as Christmas has become a universal festival, Valentine’s Day is also celebrated with much pomp in India.
In India, October and November are the months when festival fever runs high and everything else takes a backseat. As September draws to a close and October begins, festivals fill the life of one and all with colours and enthusiasm. The festivities have already begun with the celebration of Janamashtmi and Ganesh Chaturthi. The other festivals that will follow soon in the two months include Eid-ul-Fitr, Duesshra, Marwar festival, Karva Chauth, Deepawali, and Bhai Duj.
Even during the festival season, many kind of economic activities are undertaken to help the market boom. Meanwhile, so many Government Holidays in keeping with the idea of peaceful co-existence of all religions is hampering economic activities to a significant extent.

A festive mood and a totally celebratory atmosphere flourish in the environment. Celebration of festivals is a way of paying respect and reverence to the Almighty for the achievement of wealth, glory, knowledge and fame.
All festivals represent a time when we come to know more about our own culture and appreciate it. They are a welcome break from the day to day tensions of the life and fill our hearts with happiness. They are to be enjoyed completely. Although each festival has its origin in mythology, it is celebrated with equal enthusiasm without any differentiation in class, creed, or economic status.

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