Diwali

Another year passes by, another Diwali has come... Diwali and Holi are my two favorite festivals. One is the festival of lights while the other is the festival of colors (not surprisingly, food is common to both). :) Religious significances aside, each has deeper meanings that most people don't think (or care) about. I will leave that for some other time. For the past several days, I have been involuntarily thinking about Diwali celebrations from my childhood in India.

As kids, we used to play Ram lila in our house (me, my brother and my sister). The neighborhood kids used to come and watch. :) One or two of them would get a role too (that of Ravan) and inevitably there would be howls of protest once the news trickled over to the respective parents.... but nobody minded. I recall, for Dusherra, once I and my sister made our own Ravan (filled with fire crackers). When people were coming back after watching the official celebration in Sec 18 grounds, we lighted our own Ravan and people had a blast. Those were fun days.

Diwali day is a national holiday in India. A few days before Diwali, people would be coming over to our house with sweets, there would be greeting cards in the mail from near and far. Everyone was in a happy mood. In the morning on Diwali day, sometimes the maid wouldn't come and my mom would clean the whole house. There was no complaining about the work no matter how tired she was. . Mom and Dad would go to our local relatives and friends and distribute sweets while we, the kids would be playing at home. Somehow, despite the hectic morning activities, mom would still come up with a yummy lunch as if waving a magic wand. Still always smiling. :)

Evening time, the neighborhood would be buzzing with excitement. Last minute Diwali shopping - crackers, more sweets, new utensils, clothes... Markets would be jam packed. I recall numerous occasions going to Sec 7 and 19 markets with my mom (sometimes dad too). I would ask to buy crackers and never saw a "No" from mom or a limit... I would set my limit myself.
Sundown and some folks in the city would jump the gun and we could hear randowm crackers bursting here or there. Dad would give the go ahead and we, the kids would go out and light the diyas outside (front, side and back yards). All the lights in the house would be on. Dad would set up the mandir for the special puja. Around 8 pm or so, we would get the go ahead to burst the crackers. Mom/Dad would sometimes sit outside and watch us but it was mainly the kids (us) bursting the crackers - Anaars, chakri, Aloo crackers, rockets and so on. Once we were done, we would come inside and have dinner. When we were really young, we would have the pooja first and then sweets and dinner. As we grew older, Dad would do the pooja at midnight (laxmi pooja).

No restrictions on food, sweets, fruits. Eat as much and as many times as you want. There was happiness all around. You didn't have to look at the laughing faces...you would feel it in the environment. Sometimes, on Diwali night our close family friends would come over. It seemed like endless celebrations.

Of course the next morning we would witness all the mess we had made the prior night and even then we would be looking for any unburst crackers. :) What a time gone by...

Here's wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous year ahead. God bless.