Kunal was visiting his Aunt Madhavi in Chicago, USA for a few days. His aunt and uncle lived there on their own. Aunt Madhavi would take him out to visit different places every day. Kunal noticed that in all the big malls, there were lots of pumpkins that had strange and scary faces carved on them.
Curious, Kunal asked Aunt Madhavi, “Why are there so many scary pumpkins everywhere, aunty?”
Aunt Madhavi said, “Kunal, I forgot to tell you. October 31 is Halloween. It’s a day of fun and frolic for kids. Adults also take part in the celebrations.”
“But we also celebrate Halloween in our school in India. All the kids dress up in different costumes and dance and sing. The teachers tell us scary stories. But I’ve never seen such pumpkins there,” said Kunal.
Aunt Madhavi told Kunal, “Even we celebrate Diwali here in America, but it’s not as bright and lively as it is in India. Similarly, traditional festivals of America are not celebrated in the same way in India. These pumpkins are called Jack-o’-lanterns. On Halloween, candles are lit and placed inside them, and they are kept outside the house.”
“Why aunty?” asked Kunal, curiously.
Aunt Madhavi said, “There is a legend about them. A long time ago, there was an evil man called Jack, who, one day, met the devil on the street. He was scared that the devil would take him. Jack came up with a plan. He requested the devil that before he went with him, he wished to have an apple. The devil agreed and immediately climbed up an apple tree to pluck an apple.”
“Why did Jack ask the devil to climb the tree?” asked Kunal.
“The tree belonged to the king of fruits-Apple. When the devil climbed it, the king woke up, got angry and trapped him. Jack knew this would happen, and so as soon as the devil climbed the tree, he ran from there. The devil was furious with Jack for tricking him. He pleaded with the king to let him go. The King agreed and let him climb down,” explained Aunt Madhavi.
“What happened next?” asked Kunal. He was enjoying the story.
Aunt Madhavi said, “Well, a few days later, Jack passed away. Since he was evil, he could not go to heaven. At the same time, the devil did not let him enter hell.”
The devil told Jack, “There’s no place for you here. Go back to earth.”
“Jack kept wandering from one place to another on earth. People were scared of him. The devil told him that on the day of Halloween, you could see other people, but even on that day, people will carve scary faces on pumpkins, light candles in them and keep them outside their houses so that you are kept away,” continued Aunt Madhavi.
”Aunty,” said Kunal. “Is there a real heaven and hell?”
Aunt Madhavi said, “Oh, no, Kunal. It’s all just folklore. In all countries and cultures, the concept of heaven and hell has been introduced to encourage people to do good deeds and stop them from doing anything bad. These are just stories.”
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“I see,” said Kunal. Aunt Madhavi continued, “That’s not all. On this day, kids in groups visit all homes in the neighbourhood and ask: ‘Trick or treat?”‘
“What does that mean, Aunty?” asked Kunal, curiously.
“Trick or treat means either give us a treat or prepare to get tricked. Most people give candies, chocolates and maybe some money,” said Aunt Madhavi.”But there are some who refuse to give them anything.
These people are then given punishments.” “What kind of punishments?” asked Kunal.
“Sometimes the kids leave garbage in front of their houses or break their fences. Stuff like that which they get amused by!” said Aunt Madhavi.
“I see,” said Kunal. Aunt Madhavi continued, “That’s not all. On this day, kids in groups visit all homes in the neighbourhood and ask: ‘Trick or treat?”‘
“What does that mean, Aunty?” asked Kunal, curiously.
“Trick or treat means either give us a treat or prepare to get tricked. Most people give candies, chocolates and maybe some money,” said Aunt Madhavi.”But there are some who refuse to give them anything. These people are then given punishments.”
“What kind of punishments?” asked Kunal.”Sometimes the kids leave garbage in front of their houses or break their fences. Stuff like that which they get amused by!” said Aunt Madhavi.
“Thank you for sharing with me, Aunty,” said Kunal. “I’ll go back to India and share it again with my friends. But there’s just one more thing Why are these pumpkins called Jack-o’-lanterns?”
Aunt Madhavi said, “People had started putting them outside their houses mainly to keep evil Jack away. So, they came to be known as Jack-o’ lanterns. Initially, large beets were used to carve faces. Later when Europeans came to America, they noticed the large orange pumpkins. In the light of the
candles, they appeared really bright. And so they started carving faces on the big pumpkins.”
She continued, “Carving faces itself became an art. We have competitions for carving faces during Halloween. The most detailed and scary face is given prizes.
Many stories have also been written on such pumpkins.”
“Oh, please tell me one such story!” pleaded Kunal. Aunt Madhavi placed her hand on Kunal’s head and said, “No, not today! I’ll tell you a story some other day. It’s time to go to bed now. Good night!”
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