Happy Diwali

Oh yes, I am very much alive and so is my blog….

Firstly, I would like to thank all the people who kept on asking about my blog even when I offered no new posts…. Your views and suggestions always motivate me to write more….

Now, since Diwali is round the corner… I would take this opportunity to wish each and every one, a very happy, safe and prosperous Diwali (so please excuse the absence of my messages. I did wish here) …. May you have a great one…

Diwali is the festival of lights! Well, this used to be the standard first line in my every “My favorite festival” essay. I am sure every house must have scrapped through its cleaning, lighting, sweets preparations, shopping and the other never ending chores for Diwali.

A few days back, I and my bunch of friends were discussing about this festival- Diwali-then, Diwali-now and how the whole feel of the festival has changed over the years for us.

As a child, my first day of Diwali (i.e. Dhanteras) used to be celebrated at my Nana-Nani’s place. I used to meet my cousins over lunch and then accompany my mother in buying some gold as a part of the tradition.

The second day (i.e. Narakchaturdashi) used to start with my mother waking me and my brother at 5 am, massaging our body with hot oil and Uttana, and bathing us. Then all of us would relish all the sweets prepared. I and all my friends would burst crackers in the society, decorate the entrances with colourful rangolis and diyas and play games the whole day.

The third day would pass by meeting a lot of relatives and exchanging sweet boxes with them. The evening would be Lakshmi-poojan which would go with a simple pooja at home.

The fourth day (i.e. Balipradipada) coincides with the new year of gujaratis. Having lived in a society full of gujaratis, it was a ritual for the young to get up early and visit every house in the building and wish everyone ‘Saal Mubarak’. Every house had a delicacy specially prepared for us. I used to happily oblige with it. The later half of the day used to fly away playing with my friends in the building.

The last day (i.e. Bhaubheez) used to be the best! Lunch used to be at my father’s side family. Every uncle and every aunty would turn up and have a gala-time laughing and teasing each other. My grandmother’s generation would revive their memories and become young with the young. Dinner used to be at my maternal uncle’s place where all my cousins would meet and burst crackers and fire rockets the whole night. I would literally cry every year while departing.

Somehow, a lot of this has changed over the years. I, no longer, burst crackers. I grew out of it very early due to all the air, noise and land pollution it leaves behind (P.S. Not everyone practices this. Noisy crackers have always found their customers.). The ritual of ‘Saal Mubarak’ died down over the years. Visit to relatives and visits from relatives became fewer. Most of my elder cousins left for careers in USA, thus, affecting the gala-time we used to share. The games and all have disappeared and I end up in front of my television for most parts of the day. The 5 am bath has been procrastinated to an 8 am bath. The practice of buying and wearing new clothes has been compromised. The gifts have reduced. The amount of sweets that used to be made has decreased. The rangolis in every entrance has lost its colour. Diwali seems to have lost its spark.

I don’t know if you share the same observation as mine but, for me, the festival of lights has become glum over the years. The tag of ‘festival’ stays but the grandeur seems lost.

Is it all because we have grown up? Our families have increasingly become nuclear? Our social circles have reduced? Longings have deteriorated?

No, I don’t know the answers. And moreover, everyone’s reasons would defer. Some people’s Diwali must have never changed.

Nevertheless, to end this post on a happy note… I would urge everyone to stay happy this Diwali. If you are going through the same, make an honest effort to bring back at the least something about Diwali that you truly miss. And don’t forget to make the people around you happy, because that’s the true essence of a festival!

Happy and Shubh Deepavali…. Have a safe one…. And a wonderful and prosperous year ahead!