Hariyali Teej, the festival of prosperity and happiness is celebrated on the 3rd day of Shukla paksh of Hindu month of Saawan. This festival is dedicated to Goddess Parvati. This year there was Purushottam month/ Adhik month in the auspicious month of Lord Shiva, extending it to 59 days and making it all the more pious and a holy month.
This year Teej was on August 19 and Crescent celebrated the festival with full traditional and cultural flamboyance on the day. The cultural committee comprising Shrui Goel, Renu Bajpai and Rita Gupta conceptualised and organised the cultural program in central park with meticulous planning and precision. The program not only had spellbound performances by ladies and young ladies, it also had several enthralling and interesting games. Starting with Ganesh Vandana by seniors Beena Singh along with Asha Mathur, the programme had solo and group dances by Hitanshi, Mihika, Shubhrata, Ishita, Samridhi, Vardhini, Aarti, Babita, Pooja, Preeti, Kalpana, Sunita, Vandana, Apoorva, Richa, Rutvi, Meeta, Vandana, Shelaja and Parul and solo and group singing by Vanita Sunita, Sona and Parul. There were two Mother-daughter group dances by Preeti- Shubhrata and Aarti-Himanshi-Mihika which captivated the entire audience.
The program was made more lively and engaging by fascinating contests, wherein audience were awarded for biggest bindi, longest neckpiece, maximum bangles wearing pearl set, golden colour watch, having husband’s picture on screensaver, plain sari with border, henna on foot, green eye liner, more than 6 rings, dancing games etc. in which prizes were won by ladies of all age groups. The Tambola was also with a twist, keeping up with the theme of Teej with innovative and artistic handmade tickets, where numbers were written inside 5-coloured bangles. The prizes were also creative with early five being one number in each bangle, lines being all numbers in each bangle etc.
The highlight of the day was the selection of “Teej Queen”, where participants were judged on a series of conditional fulfillments of Teej ensemble of traditional costume, jewellery, makeup etc. Shikha Rastogi walked away with the coveted crown and sash of Crescent’s Teej Queen 2023.
The festivities continued with sumptuous snacks and delicacies. There were non-food stalls also by the residents.
Teej is a celebration of womanhood. As Michelle Obama said, “There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish”. And the successful organisation, execution and participation, all done by women of Crescent, proved just that.
