Happy Thanksgiving to all

Thanksgiving is one of very few festivals which are not religious. Fundamentally thanksgiving is harvest festival. The Lord is thanked for the year's harvest and good food and time is shared with close friends and relatives and loved ones.
There are many theories about Thanksgiving and different regions have different thanksgiving.  But the most popular in all is the American thanksgiving (at least where I live ;-)). I read and talked a lot about the Thanksgiving in America.

Sometime in the 16th century when the "pilgrims" came over to the "New world", they were faced by great difficulty. Unknown country, harsh weather, no knowledge of the farming capabilities. They did not know what were the local crops, where to till the land, what to till etc. It is said that the aboriginal tribes in the area helped the settlers learn the ways of the land and have their harvest. When the crops were harvested, the settlers invited over the Indian tribal people over for a feast and celebration to show their gratitude for teaching them the ways of land and share the harvest.

Over the period Thanksgiving has changed its context with the focus now being for the families to re-unite at one place and have a good time. In recent times, members of the family in the US are scattered all over the country and Thanksgiving gives an opportunity to all to take a break from their professions have a good time with their families sharing food & good time.

Thanksgiving is also eagerly awaited by retailers as people tend to buy gifts for their loved ones & families for their visit. So now in the US, Thanksgiving marks the start of the holiday shopping season which lasts well into January and during which a lot of money changes hands & gives an opportunity to both retailers and consumers to earn money and get a good bargain respectively as all the retailers have very attractive deals to attract customers in their stores.

I personally look forward to Thanksgiving every year as it gives me a chance to get latest gadgets and re-vamp the home for a very good price. This year though, the situation is very desperate with the severe downturn in the economy and many retailers facing credit crunch and bankrupty. Hopefully the customers were holding back for thanksgiving to spend and it will again kickstart the economy.

Happy Thanksgiving to all...