I admire how people come up with
the right posts at the right time.
What do I mean?
Well, you see, a Women’s Day post
on, you guessed it right, Women’s Day. Or, an Independence Day post on Independence
Day.
Now I, on the other hand, end up
missing most ‘days’ or just somehow manage to squeeze in a post at the last
minute. Sometimes I also feel that with so many posts on the same topic, what
difference does it make whether I publish something or not? But then that’s
just me justifying my epic tardiness or trying to paint my lethargy in some
fancy words.
Today, however, I have decided to actually pen something, to write what
S and I usually do on Diwali.
Now, before I take you through our festival of lights, I should mention
that I come from the east of India
and S from the north. So, what we have in our home is a mix of both. We like to
call it our own way of celebrating Diwali, a little bit from the North and a little bit from the East.
Diwali of my childhood
My memories of Diwali include so many wonderful things that just the mere mention
of this festival brings a whiff of nostalgia with it. It used to be the last celebration
just before our final exams and winter
vacations, so we always made the most of it. Lights decorated our cottage
overlooking the huge constellation of sparkling lights on our little piece of
heaven, Shillong. Engulfed in winter’s
amorous cloak, the entire family decorated the pathways and the balcony with candles and diyas. It was our little ritual. No Diwali was complete without papa, me and my sister lighting up
every corner with lights. Somehow the strong winds too could never deter those diyas we lighted from burning. Candle
in the wind those, seriously! Even now, I think I miss that the most, doing
things together. Of-course, crackers
later at night were next. Even at that age, I remember distributing crackers
among the other kids of the locality. It was really wonderful. Late at night we
would also visit the pandals for Kali Puja. Good food, great company and
beautiful clothes was Diwali to me
and my family. It would begin with dad lighting
14 diyas as a homage to our forefathers and continue with all the other
small little customs we had as a family.
Deepawali of S’s childhood
Ideally, I would have loved if S
would have chipped in with a paragraph or two of how he celebrated Diwali, or more appropriately Deepawali, as
a kid. But he’s too lazy to do that. I cannot get him to write even an
application unless my life depends on it. So, I’ll try with whatever little I
know of his childhood and Diwali. He
grew up with Lakshmi puja being performed
as the main event on Deepawali days.
Then of course there were delectable sweets
prepared and consumed with unparalleled enthusiasm. Every corner of their home
lighted up, fragrant with burning incense, the aura divine. Sweets distributed
among friends, family and neighbors being another activity the kids of the
house were engaged in. And last but not the least, crackers. S loves crackers, for him Deepawali has to have crackers.
Why am I even surprised? The entire family together on these auspicious days marked
this festival, their main festival, year after year, every year.
Our festivals, today.
Being miles from our homes on most
auspicious occasions, S and I try our best to fit in everything from both ends
of India together. Of-course, if I am to be completely honest, we also try to maneuver
around our office, which hardly gives sufficient holidays on festivals, and also
our inherent laziness to celebrate. The result being, we end up doing away with
anything that is too time consuming and focus on the enjoyment part most.
Our Diwali
We hardly make sweets at home. They
are mostly outsourced from shops. Don’t judge me. Someone has to buy those
sweets these wonderful shops prepare, right? In fact, even food is outsourced
from one restaurant or the other. This is just to save time people. If we spend
hours in the kitchen then how on earth would we enjoy the festival? Makes
sense? Well,give it time and it will!
We love putting up the lights, that’s
where we aren’t lazy at all. Candles,
electric lights, diyas and flowers, you name it and we are always prepared
with those. We also love those incense sticks. Every corner of our home just
smells divine and we absolutely love it. Sometimes we also visit our friends and
spend time with them. There are crackers too with S hell bent on me trying out
everything. We do Lakshmi Puja at
home in our own way because I don’t know the elaborate rituals, honestly. But
it’s all about the intention, right? Well, at least that’s what S and I believe.
Of course, I wish I could visit Kali
Puja pandals too but we are not aware of any right here in Bangalore. That
is what we do on our Diwali, well mostly,
apart from spending the mornings at office. But that’s a discussion for another time.
We just focus on having fun, together, not only on Diwali but every other festival as well. We customize it as per ourselves and it makes sense too. At the end of the day, it's all about faith and family together, isn't it?
We just focus on having fun, together, not only on Diwali but every other festival as well. We customize it as per ourselves and it makes sense too. At the end of the day, it's all about faith and family together, isn't it?
Anyways, that is how we celebrate our Diwali. What about you?
Oh, before I forget Happy Diwali to you!