Holi is a Hindu festival that is celebrated over two days. Day 1 is dedicated to religious offerings to the Holy fire also called "Holika Dehan" and the second day brings together people to throw away their inhibitions and feel united and is celebrated all over the world.

In this episode listen in to the legends and myths around the origin of Holika Dahan which represents win of good over evil and a cute little story of mischievous Krishna and how playing with different colours came to be.

Dr Shivani Kanodia believes that stories exist all around us, from deep inside an ocean to high in the sky. With a PhD in biotechnology , storyline demanded that she pursues a career in science but what fun is a story without a twist? To give wings to her dreams and follow her passion she founded Aryah Inspires LLP in 2017 - an organization which aims to nurture the story-lovers within individuals and is on a mission to “Storify the Nation”. As a Professional storyteller, Applied theatre practitioner, consultant and trainer Shivani is committed to empower people to harness the power of storytelling and applied theatre tools to initiate dialogues, create conversations and make classrooms engaging and joyful. She has conducted over 300 sessions with more than 20,000 participants in range of sessions and workshops. Shivani has worked with various organizations like Pratham books, Katha India, Oxford University Press India, Jaipur literature Festival for outreach programme and The Hindu group to facilitate STEP summer programme. She has done story narration in collaboration with BookyBoo and and UNICEF Maharashtra to raise awareness regarding Virus during the Pandemic. She is also part of various international projects with ASST (USA) and Storytelling choir (UK). She is currently working with teachers from about 200 schools in Delhi and Haryana to train them in “Integrating Storytelling with Curriculum”.



NutSpace builds life skills and 21st-century skills in children using stories for kids. We deliver our lesson plans via live classes, online classes, self-paced courses www.nutspace.in

Follow NutSpace on: Youtube | Facebook | Instagram

On the ninth day of the nine-day long Hindu festival of Navratri, we worship the ninth form of Devi Durga. The ninth form of Devi Durga is Maa Siddhidatri.

It is said that at the beginning of time when there was nothing in the universe there was only darkness then Maa Kushmanda created the universe using her radiant smile. Maa Kushmanda also created the holy trinity. She created Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu and each one of these gods was given a job to do. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Once all these gods were created, Shiva went and prayed to Maa Kushmanda and asked her more perfection. He asked Maa Kushmanda to bestow him with lots and lots of blessings, to bestow him with more perfection. And that’s when Maa Kushmanda created another goddess. She created Maa Siddhidatri.

Maa Siddhidatri blessed Shiva not just with eight or ‘ashtasiddhis’ but with 18 siddhis or 18 perfections. These 18 comprised not just the ‘ashtasiddhis’ or the eight perfections but also ten more siddhis which are the secondary perfections as defined by Lord Krishna. And then something amazing happened, half of Lord Shiva’s body became one with Maa Siddhidatri. She became half of Shiva and that form of Shiva where he is half female and half male is called Ardhanareshwar.

Maa Siddhidatri also blessed Brahma and Vishnu with eight perfections or the ‘ashtasiddhis’ and these eight Siddhis (perfections) are:

• Anima: The ability to become as small as an atom
• Mahima: The ability to become infinitely large
• Garima: The ability to become infinitely heavy
• Laghima: The ability to become infinitely light
• Prati: The ability to become omnipresent
• Prakhambya: The ability to make all that you desire come true
• Ishitva: Lordship
• Vashitva: The power to conquer all.

And that is why Maa Siddhidatri is worshipped on the ninth day of the Navratri which is also called Ram Navmi or Naumi.

Maa Siddhidatri sits on a lotus and her ride is a lion. She has four hands. In one hand she carries a Gada, in one a chakra, in one a lotus, and in one a Shunk. Maa Siddhidatri is not just worshipped by humans she is worshipped by the devas, by the Gandharvas, by the asuras, by the yakshas, and by the Siddhas.

Rohini Vij is an early-years educator, professional storyteller, teacher trainer, curriculum developer, drama coach, voice artist, author, and Founder of NutSpace Edtech Pvt. Ltd. She has recorded audiobooks for various renowned publishers.

Follow Rohini on: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

NutSpace builds life skills and 21st-century skills in children using stories for kids. We deliver our lesson plans via live classes, online classes, self-paced courses www.nutspace.in

Follow NutSpace on: Youtube | Facebook | Instagram

On the eighth day of the nine day-long festival of Navratri, we celebrate and we pray to Maa Mahagauri. ‘Maha’ means extremely and ‘Gauri’ means fair. This is a story of Parvati-ji and once when Parvatiji in the form of Kaalratri was fighting all the demons and when she came back her skin had turned absolutely dark and try as she may she just couldn’t get rid of that dark skin. Her husband Lord Shiva made a little fun of her. He teased her and called her ‘kali’. However, this really really infuriated her and she went to Lord Brahma. She prayed and prayed to him and she told him that, ‘I want to get rid of this dark skin. Make me fair once again.’ After a severe penance, Lord Brahma was pleased and he blessed Parvati. He told her that she should go and take a dip in The Mansarovar Lake in the Himalayas. The moment Parvati stepped into The Mansarovar Lake in the Himalayas, her dark skin separated from her and magically took the form of a female. This female was called Kaushiki. Kaushiki went on to destroy two terrible demons Shumbha and Nishumbha. Shumbha and Nishumbha had got a boon from Lord Bhrama that they could not be killed by any man, god, demon or deity. And that’s how Kaushiki killed them.

Once Parvati had bathed in the river she emerged absolutely stunning. Her skin was now fair and radiant and once again she became the fair-skinned one and came to be known as Maa Mahagauri. Maa Mahagauri has four arms. She carries a trident in one hand and a damaru in the other. She rides a white bull. She is a symbol of kindness and morality. That was a wonderful story, wasn’t it? But then, it makes me think about something.

Tell me, is fair skin really a symbol of beauty? Is it important to have fair skin or a fair heart? I think Maa Mahagauri had an enormously courageous and beautiful heart and no matter what the colour of her skin was, she was the one who destroyed demons before and after.

Rohini Vij is an early-years educator, professional storyteller, teacher trainer, curriculum developer, drama coach, voice artist, author, and Founder of NutSpace Edtech Pvt. Ltd. She has recorded audiobooks for various renowned publishers.

Follow Rohini on: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

NutSpace builds life skills and 21st-century skills in children using stories for kids. We deliver our lesson plans via live classes, online classes, self-paced courses www.nutspace.in

Follow NutSpace on: Youtube | Facebook | Instagram