Here’s wishing all of you a very happy Vijay Dashmi and a Happy Dussehra.
When we were kids, we often used to say – Happy Dussra, Haath Paay pasra :)
Today, is in essence, just that. It’s a holiday and everyone is relaxing. In Maharashtra, we have this tradition of exchanging leaves from the Shammi tree. Apparently, Dussehra is also the day that marks the end of the Pandava’s 14 year exile (yes, even Pandava’s had an exile like Ram).
On that day, the Pandava’s had hidden their weapons in a Shammi tree, and that is why the leaves of the tree are more precious than gold itself. Hence the exchanging (I am sure some stingy old person might have thought of this lore to circumvent actual gold exchange :-)).