Double Celebration Discount (Rugby World Cup + Diwali)

This is a fantastic week for me with two big things to celebrate… the New Zealand All Blacks winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup and Diwali (the Hindu Festival of Lights). I’ll tell you about both of these in this post but first…

To celebrate this double celebration, we’re offering a discount to our readers, just enter the coupon code DIWALI to get $10 off your order for a full version of any Outlook addin on our website
(discount does not apply to upgrades or bundles).

Now the reasons for celebrating…

The All Blacks win the 2011 Rugby World Cup

I know that Rugby is not too big in some countries but it is the biggest sport in this part of the world… and my favourite team (the New Zealand All Blacks) just won the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The All Blacks have been the number one rated team for most of the last 12 years… They have gone into the last 3 world cups rated the number one team in the world and yet seem to choke during the most important tournament (that is only held once in 4 years) in the rugby world.

Despite coming in to so many world cups rated number 1, they had only won the cup once… and that was 24 years ago.

The French team in particular have been a jinx for the All Blacks. In 2003 the French beat us in the semi-finals, in 2007 they humiliated us in the quarter-finals. Both times the All Blacks were meant to thrash the French… but someone forgot to tell that to the French rugby team.

So it was really exciting that this year, the All Blacks were playing our nemesis France in the finals. France have not had a good world cup and even lost two of their pool games. This year we KNEW we were going to thrash them… it was going to be sweet revenge for the last two times!

But again the French team were misinformed… and did not stick with the plan. They played an amazing game of rugby. In the end the All Blacks were lucky to come off with a win with the closest of margins 8-7.

It wasn’t pretty but we’ll take the win.

This year the best team in the world won the Rugby World Cup though I am not sure if they were the better team in the final.

The All Blacks are world champs for the next 4 years.

Diwali (Festival of Lights)

Wednesday 26th October 2011 is Diwali. Diwali is also known as the festival of lights and is probably the most important celebration in the Hindu calendar.

We celebrate Diwali for a number of reasons.

• The return of Lord Rama after 14 years of banishment. His adventures and triumphs over evil during his banishment are told in the epic Ramayana. Upon his return diyas (small clay oil lamps) were lit all over the kingdom to welcome him back.
• It is the Indian New Year.

So how do we celebrate Diwali here in Fiji?

Fiji is a fantastic multi-cultural place to live. Diwali day is a public holiday and celebrated and shared with everyone irrespective of their religion or race.

Our homes and office are thoroughly cleaned if needed before Diwali. Many people also take this opportunity to do renovations (there is some painting going on at my home as I write this).

New garments are purchased as it is considered auspicious to where something new on Diwali.

Our homes are also lit with lights of different colors. In Suva (the city where I live) there is even an award for the best decorated house which a golfing buddy has won many times.

On Diwali day, Diyas (small clay lamps) are lit around the house. Prayers are held at 6 PM but this is normally private to the family. Guests are welcomed into the house from 6.30 (or 7) onwards. Many varieties of sweets and vegetarian dishes are made and shared with friends and family.

Children (and many adults) play with fireworks that light up the skies.

It is a greatest way to start the year.

So as we end this year, I thank you all again for your support… for reading our blog… for using our Outlook addins… for all your input and ideas that have helped us to become a better company.

We wish you all a happy Diwali and look forward to serving you even better in the New Year.

From Sanjay and the rest of your Outlook team at Standss

PS: We hope that the little gift of the $10 discount code (DIWALI) helps you start your new year the right way. The code is valid for the rest of the week and expires on October 28th.