Actors Sohaila Kapur, Vikram Kochhar and Pankaj Berry have shared about the Lohri traditions and reminisced about the sweet memories of the festival, telling about its importance in their lives.
Celebrated a day before Makar Sankranti, Lohri has great significance in Haryana and Punjab as it signals the beginning of the harvest season for winter crops. Traditions like the sharing of jaggery and sesame sweets, the singing of folk songs around crackling bonfires, and children going from home to home to seek 'Lohri,' tend to bring neighbours and communities together.
Sohaila stars in the teleplay, 'Where Did I Leave My Purdah’. Her family has strong Punjabi roots on both sides of the border, and she has very fond memories of the festival.
Talking about the same, the senior actress, who is known for her work in “Daas Dev’, ‘The Family Man’, ‘Special Ops’, said: “As a Punjabi living in Delhi, Lohri is a very important festival for me and I have grown up with it. We usually visit relatives and light the bonfire and I remember enjoying it thoroughly as a child and 'feeding' the fire with peanuts and 'revris'. One of my fondest memories is visiting Masi's House on Lohri and dancing around the fire. To me, the festival represents a time of family togetherness."
The ‘Aarya’ actress connects the festival with the onset of spring and added: "After the cold Delhi winter, everybody looks forward to 'Lohri'. Festivals like this also bring communities together, help us to enjoy each other's company as human beings, shed antagonism and envision a beautiful world."
For Vikram, who stars in Zee Theatre's ‘Raid’, Lohri is a celebration of new beginnings and the harvest season.
Like Sohaila, he too has beautiful memories of Lohri and recalls: "In my family, we all celebrate Lohri with great happiness. We collect wood for the bonfire, make popcorn, sing, and enjoy music and there is a general air of festivity in our home. Lohri is a big part of the Punjabi cultural experience."
"This is a festival of happiness that everyone should come together to celebrate, keeping aside unnecessary quarrels and arguments,” added the ‘Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola’ actor.
For veteran actor Pankaj, who plays a complex character in psychological thriller 'Antardwand', Lohri is a time of great nostalgia.
He reminisced: "During Lohri celebrations, my mom used to light the bonfire and we would gather to enjoy various treats like peanuts, jaggery-based sweets and sesame seed laddoos. When we threw sesame seeds and flowers into the fire, my mom would say, ‘May our sins be absorbed by the sesame seeds and the flowers’.”
Berry remembers going from home to home asking for Lohri with other children and singing 'Sunder mundriye ho' and recalls, "It was a delightful time filled with warmth, shared joy, and unity. In our neighbourhood, some people used to give us 25 paise, while some used to give us 50 paise."
The play airs on Zee Theatre.
