Good News About This Year's Holidays

This year would be a happy year for those yearning for more holidays. At least 7 of the 23 holidays fall on Saturdays. This means the employees can enjoy an extended holiday as the next day is Sunday. Thus for Bakrid (August 1), Independence Day (August 15), Ganesh festival (August 22), Durgashtami (October 24), Batukamma (October 17) and Boxing Day (December 26) fall on Saturday. Similarly, Holi, Idul Fitr, Bonalu and Guru Purnima fall on Monday. This means the people can have two holidays (Sunday and Monday) together. For this Christmas, there would be three holidays in a row. Christmas is on Friday, the boxing day on Saturday and the next day is Sunday.

For those who have a five day week, any festival on Friday would mean that they would have three holidays in a row. Holi, Mahasivaratri, Good Friday, Gandhi Jayanthi, Christmas and Milad-un-Nabi are falling on Fridays. So there would be six occasions when those working five-days a week can enjoy an extended holiday.

But, there is a dampener too. There are five festivals which are falling on Sundays or Second Saturdays. This means, the employees will not have the benefit of a holiday. The Republic Day (January 26), Babu Jagjivan Ram Jayanthi (April 5) , Mohurrum (August30), vijaya Dasami (October 25) and Diwali (November 14) fall on either Sundays or Second Saturdays. So, it's a mixed bag out there.