Diwali 2013

photo courtesy: aditi ranotra

Diwali also called deepawali, is one of the most awaited festivals of the year in india. It is known as the festival of lights and marks the victory of good over evil. Diwali celebrations start with Dhanteras, which generally falls eighteen days after the Dussehra festival, followed by narak chaturdashi, commonly known as choti (small) Diwali and Diwali.

Diwali is celebrated with a huge fervour in india. People worship goddess lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity), buy new clothes especially for this occasion, light and decorate their houses, buy sweets, exchange gifts and burn crackers.

Unlike the last few years, the Diwali of 2013 has been slightly different (blame the economy’s state and the changing trend).

The markets which otherwise used to be jam packed during this time of the year were seen less crowded. The craze for crackers was also seen plummeting. Shopping for gifts has come down and is only restricted to a few important people related to business and very close relatives and neighbours one talks to every day. The gifting concept for the youth has moved on from dry fruits and unnecessary clutter (read: clocks, bedsheets etc, already stacked in their wardrobes from last year) to gift vouchers available online. I say it is sensible, atleast one gets to choose what he/she wants as per their own liking and taste even if it comes with an added cost that he/she has to shell out from his/her own pocket.

After all that worldly information let me come to the personal front :p. To me Diwali means a well lit, clean and beautifully decorated home. It is not funny the level of seriousness I achieve when it comes to Diwali cleaning. I go all out, armed with a tall broom, hunting down the hidden cobwebs from every nook and corner of the house. Diwali, to me, means sparkling surroundings, glittering buildings, colonies and markets that leaves one mesmerized.

our spectacularly lit sector

Binging into sweets is part and parcel of the Diwali package (afterall who doesn’t need an excuse to make that sweet tooth happy? :p). Piously shopping for rangoli (folk art form in india) colours, candles and diyas (oil lamps) is a regular thing to do every Diwali and this year was no different.

It was my first Diwali post wedding (yayyiee!) and was fun, hectic and special. On, the day of main Diwali my sister-in-law and I got busy decorating the house with rangoli while my husband took care of the flower decoration. In, the evening, the three of us went and lit candles at our workplace.  Once we got back home, we quickly got all dressed up for the evening puja (ritual). After performing the puja, we lit diyas and placed them everywhere around the house.

 

a collage of rangoli and candle decoration we did in the house

Since we were so decked up specially for the occasion, we posed (and forced my husband to just stand in the frame :p) and clicked ourselves. Post that, all the neighbours got together for to greet each other. Everyone got something or the other from their place (read: food) and enjoyed it while the kids were busy burning their small yet precious collection of crackers. I personally prefer watching the cracker show more than burning them myself. Not burning crackers is even better for they create noise pollution and lead to unsettled smoke in the sky causing air pollution. For this reason, I was happy and content burning just one phuljhadi (a type of cracker that does not produce noise). 

our first diwali :D

One difference that came with Diwali post marriage is the cards party sessions. I had never attended a cards party before I got married. However, post marriage I must have attended atleast four to five of them.  My husband and I both had never understood (and tried understanding) the game of cards and hence had never played. Instead, my husband prefers introducing new funny games that involve the use of cards. For example the one with the best or worst cards has to do a dare (LOL). We, for some reason, cannot fathom the concept of losing and dissipating thousands and staying up all night gambling.

However, this year, watching my husband’s friends play and maintaining their banks for them (that is how they got me involved in the game and kept me entertained :p at all these parties) I understood the game of flash. Even my husband learnt a bit. 

people playing at the party on diwali

On the day of Diwali, post the get together with the neighbours we proceeded to the last cards party of the Diwali season organised at a friend’s place. Out of the three tables placed for playing cards, one was sitting vacant. Me and my husband settled ourselves in the seats around it and played a simple game of flash, not with money, but with another deck of cards that acted as moolah (money) for us :p. After playing six games over loads of good food cooked by our friend’s mom, with full stomachs and sleepy eyes we reached our home which looked splendid with those twinkling yellow lights and brought Diwali celebrations to a wonderful gleaming end.