Many restaurants, lounges, bars and cafes in South Mumbai and the suburbs celebrated Halloween on Friday by offering various discounts, 'horror' drinks and even cash prizes for the best-dressed people.
Halloween, also known as All Hallows Day, is for paying respect to the dead. It has Celtic and pagan roots and is said to have emerged from Nordic countries. Many believe that souls of the departed ones come to earth to connect with humans on this day.
So the question is do Mumbaikars know what they are celebrating?
Owner of Hollywood Bollywood Dresswala in Jogeshwari Amit Mishra, who rents out theme-based clothes, said Halloween is a horror party where people like to dress up in different attire. His business during the Halloween week has gone up by 100% since last year, with at least 50 people coming to inquire and buy dresses.
"It's a different festival and people buy Bollywood theme clothes. Mainly, the festival revolves around horror-inducing costumes, but some like wearing police clothes, some Gabbar. The most popular one right now is the pirate costume. For girls or women, it's glamorous dresses with dracula or vampire theme. Business is really good and we are happy that such a day is celebrated," he said.
Whistling Woods International celebrated Halloween the whole week by having horror movie screenings, while Neeta Lulla fashion designing school students had a Halloween-based fashion show. A prize for the best-dressed male and female was also announced.
Mehak Murcana, 21, a student, had put the show together with her batchmates. "Halloween is to pray for the departed souls, but people, these days, approach the dead in a funny way. We enjoy such a festival and it's just an excuse to party," said the Bandra resident.
Avinash Patil, executive president of the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, a committee for eradication of blind faith, said they have announced a Rs21 lakh reward for anyone who can prove ghosts are real or miracles exist.
"It is wrong to keep such misconceptions, we should use our scientific temperament while imbibing these thoughts. Many find it heroic to participate in such events, but people should not waste their time in such activities," he said.
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