Why do we celebrate New Year eve? Or our anniversaries? Why do we “celebrate” festivals? More particularly, what does celebration mean and is there a certain way an ideal “celebration” needs to be undertaken? There is a certain “routine” one may ascribe to an anniversary celebration also as undertaken by normal people (receive wishes from close friends and relatives, wear a new dress, cutting a cake and dinner in a restaurant) – a “routine” by its very nature tends to generate monotony. How then do we understand an act of “celebration” and why is it that one tends to celebrate special events (holidays, festivals, anniversaries, etc)? Some reflections are articulated below: 

1. Certain kind of कर्म are called as “celebration” on special days – getting up late, shopping, playing पत्ता, meeting friends, taking to alcohol, combining festival holiday with a weekend (where feasible) and taking a trip (Lonavala, Dapoli, Hawaii, Dubai, Mexico, etc) – these collectively constitute one type of routine. 
2. Traditional व्यवहार is also articulated in various शास्त्र and even conducted by people aligned to धर्म – get up early, have an oil bath, clean the house, beautify पूजागृह, read सुंदरकांड (eg.), do दान & ध्यान, feed cows, take to मौन for some time, engage with a wider community event linked to the festival, etc – these collectively may also be described as another type of routine. 
3. Both 1 & 2 may be seen as a “celebration” depending on HOW one engages with these. Both done “sensibly” become a साधना but both performed in a robotic manner may end up becoming a routine. And when special events also end up being seen as a routine, certain people stop enjoying the special events also and work to break-away from the festival routines too. 
4. It must however be pointed out that nothing “new” is indeed done on a festival that is not done on other days – be it shopping, eating out, meeting friends, etc. Festivals or special events cannot thus technically be seen as a break from routine but merely a continuation of certain routine कर्म albeit in a more focused manner. Then when does celebration of a special event become “sensible” vis a vis a routine?
5. LIFE IS SENSIBLY LIVED WHEN EVENTS ARE EXPERIENCED IN A FRESH WAY. If & when every कर्म is performed to our maximum potential as demanded by the event for benefit of all, there is नित्यता displayed just as विष्णु marries श्री DAILY with full pomp & glory in temples. 
6. On the contrary, life is NOT sensibly lived or lived sub-optimally if we do not avail our own full potential, live with cynicism, trouble others, etc. For such a one, even a once-in-a life event (marriage, graduation…) become a misery or a monotony. When our कर्म is undertaken in such a sub-optimal manner or a cynical/ negative manner, such कर्म may be referred to as an अनित्य कर्म.
7. Theer is another perspective that becomes relevant here. The actual choice of कर्म that we take up daily and on special days is driven by our own गुण tilt just as the direction of a plate determines which side the water flows to. If our default कर्म (preferred choice of action that we take up by default) is sleep, laziness, watching movies or hang out with friends, our festival or holiday कर्म will see an exaggerated expression of these innate कर्म; however, if our default कर्म is reading शास्त्र, festival कर्म too will gravitate in such a direction. 
8. We are therefore compelled to understand that living up to our own full potential means life is viewed as a साधना (which means an effort undertaken to elevate ourselves). This means to actualize our worth, we will have to necessarily infuse every कर्म of ours with a साधना tilt – this means we have to necessarily give up our own तमस् & रजस् tendencies and perform all कर्म with सत्व tilt.
9. Periodic festivals or events may thus be seen as reminders to judge and assess whether we are displaying the traits (say of ज्ञानेश्वर, व्यास..) in full measure. And we engage with those events in a manner THAT WILL FACILITATE INFUSION OF SUCH TRAITS INTO MY DAILY LIFE (leaving no separation of conduct between daily and festival life)

Given the above, we may conclude our chain of thoughts as below: We have two choices ahead of us while performing any कर्म: 

1. One choice we have while engaging with any कर्म is to perform limited कर्म (misaligned to our capability and as demanded by the event) or we may engage with our routine in a sub-optimal manner and claim that we are “enjoying” or “celebrating” (and thereby not live up to my potential). 
2. Other choice is to infuse every कर्म with a साधना-tilt. And if and when our साधना attains fruition, like श्रीकृष्ण, whole of life becomes a celebration irrespective of what is done (like washing feet of ऋषि at इंद्रप्रस्थ or running a chariot for अर्जुन or fighting with नरकासुर or doing a रणछोड) – there is glory in all actions.

Given the conclusion that a celebration is certainly warranted on a special occasion like an anniversary or a birthday, let me end by giving an example of what may be expressed as a sub-optimal celebration vs a complete celebration:

Sub-optimal celebration (of a birthday)

1. Get up late and avoid a bath
2. Spend time on a mobile phone texting people and catching with up videos
3. Expect gifts from family/ friends and get disappointed if such gifts do not come
4. Book a restaurant, buy an expensive cake and indulge in a loud dance/ party with friends/ relatives till late in the day
5. Consume alcohol or drugs

Such a kind of celebration will maintain status quo of one’s गुण which will remain in a रजस् or तमस् mode. No expansion can happen with such an agenda though the individual may believe that he or she is “enjoying”.

Celebration aligned to धर्म that enables expansion

1. Get up early and have a traditional bath
2. Maintain a positive attitude throughout the day
3. Do a पूजा at home to one’s own देवता or visit a nearby temple
4. Take blessing of elders
5. Reflect on how the year went by and list positives to feel good about and negatives to work upon
6. Do दान or feed animals (as against focusing on what gifts one may obtain from others)
7. Read specific joyful episodes from पुराण (birth of Kumara or how account of Markandeya or Dhruva) 
8. While the above items may be taken as the core, one may meet up with close friends/ relatives (who are happy in your presence and keen on your welfare) and spend a nice evening with them.
9. Retire early (as per the usual practice)

Such an agenda is a path to enhance one’s सत्व quotient – one may then be excited or encouraged to bring the conduct suggested above not just for birthdays but expand this routine to other days too. And over time, the list of actions highlighted under the sub-optimal routine wither away (and become less critical). And once the daily routine aligns to धर्म, one becomes qualified as a साधक paving the way for ज्ञान

ॐ तत् सत्