‘WE HAVE OUR OWN LITTLE KANJAK AT HOME’
Disha Parmar Vaidya chats about celebrating her daughter’s first Ram Navami, and her own childhood days as a kanjak
Ye festival toh hota hi betiyon ka hai. Both Rahul and I always wanted our firstborn to be a girl, and we couldn’t be more grateful. DISHA PARMAR VAIDYA, Actor
Actor Disha Parmar Vaidya and singer Rahul Vaidya’s little one Navya is just seven months old, but she is already winning hearts on social media.
As she gears up for Navya’s first Ram Navami, Disha shares, “We have our own little kanjak at home. Every festival is special with her. Ye festival toh hota hi betiyon ka hai. Both Rahul and I always wanted our firstborn to be a girl, and we couldn’t be more grateful,” adding, “She’s too small right now to understand anything [about the festivities]. But probably next year, it will be more of a celebration, when we will actually teach her everything, and explain the meaning of this day. Then, I see Navya going from house to house to collect her kanjak.”
As she dolls up her daughter for the festive day, Disha recalls her own childhood when she used to collect kanjak in the neighbourhood, back in Delhi. “I used to get ready in a suit or lehenga during this time. I will always cherish those days — voh bachpan ke din waapas aa hi nahin sakte,” the 29-year-old fondly remembers.
But living in Mumbai is a bit different. Disha mentions how the festival is not as big in the city as it was in Delhi. “In Mumbai, there are not many major family traditions that we follow on Ram Navami. We just prepare halwa, puri and chhole at home. But when I used to live in Delhi, it was a big celebration. We also used to invite kanjaks at home,” she reveals, adding, “My mother-in-law does pooja at home on festivals, and that is a tradition that we still continue.”