So it's another Diwali away from home and all I have are memories of all the years celebrating the 'Indian Christmas". With all the international friends I have made over the past years, I am dying to show them what Diwali is like at home in India. What I grew up with. The real deal. But since I can't, this is my next best attempt.
The prep for Diwali would start days before. So every year most families exchange boxes of dry-fruits and sweets. Everywhere across the country you get boxes of assorted dry-fruits packed beautifully (see pic). But these didn't have the best quality dry-fruits, so weeks earlier my mom would buy it all individually and we would all sit around the dining table, with piles of dry-fruit and all of would pack it in pretty boxes. I remember that we were allowed unlimited access to munch on all the dry-fruits by my mom but all I could think of was how expensive the dry-fruits were so I would keep monitoring how much my bro n sis were eating (I am the family miser). We would also send cards to all the family/friends a few weeks before. Luckily for us, my mom n dad believed that we should all wear new clothes on Diwali.. so ka-ching! All of us would go shopping before every Diwali for new clothes. Diwali is the festival of lights and everyone decorates their homes with tiny oil lamps. My mom, sis and I would paint all these pottery lamps indivisually in the days preceding the big day.
Diwali is spread over 3 days. The first day (2 days before Diwali) is called "Dhanteras". This is a day when all businesses start new account books and it's the holiest day of the year to buy silver (not sure why). So every dhanteras, all we did was a tiny worship ceremony in the evening and then we would all go shop for some tiny silverware just to follow tradition. We were allowed to light one lamp on this night.. the significance of which I have completely forgotton. The day before is called "Small Diwali".. we didn't do anything special really on this day except that we were allowed to burst some of the fireworks and we were allowed to light one lamp in every room. So the reason people light lamps on Diwali is because the myth is that Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, visits your home on this day and she won't enter if it's dark.. so yep.. it's all about the money :P
The main day today is simply called Diwali or "Big Diwali" translated in Hindi. This is celebrated (very broadly) because one of the main dudes in Hindu mythology returned home after 14 years of exile. This guy is super loved so it's a really big deal to Hindus. I'm not gonna include too much of the history lesson cos I want this to be about my Diwali experience each year. The first memory of every Diwali is my mom using that excuse to wake us up early.."get up early.. it's Diwali.. you need to look fresh on Diwali". My mom and dad are OBSESSED with us taking a shower. The nano-second I wake up, it's the only thing that they can think of. And on Diwali, they milk the "holiness" of the day to fulfill this obsession. Then we go shop for fresh flowers to decorate the house. The yellow marigold is the standard flower that everyone uses to decorate all the doorways and the balcony at home. The rest of the day would just be spent chilling at home. eating amazing food, and gorging on the insane amount of sweets that other people sent over. Around 7 pm in the evening, we have the "pooja" or the worship at home. Most families have a very elaborate ceremony on Diwali. As a family, 5 of us would just crowd in our tiny kitchen and try to muddle our way through what the ceremony should be. We sing some hymns and then my dad would lead us in saying thanks. Everytime we have this prayer, I would love to open my eyes and observe how everyone else is behaving. My brother would always have this intense expression like he is summoning Goddess Lakshmi with all the personal favor he can manage, my mom just seemed like she is lost in her world of devotion.. my sister looked pretty normal .. and my dad looked super calm and peaceful. Some of the hymns were soooooo long and I would just wait for the magic words of the last paragraph. I remember feeling like a long distance runner in the final sprint everytime I heard that. Anybody could sense the renewed energy the minute we hit that paragraph :P Also right after the worship was the elaborate and special Diwali meal that my mom made.. so that occupied a lot of my thoughts.
So after the meal is the social part of Diwali. This is when people finally get together and celebrate with everyone else. Our muslim neighbors would visit us to wish us. We would all head to the terrace on my building and all the neighbors would be there. Everyone bursts crackers (fireworks).. with the boys going for the bombs and the girls doing all the ones with the pretty lights. I have many memories of narrow escapes with bombs. Most of my night would be spent with my fingers in my ears. It's so gorgeous to stand on the terrace and watch the whole city erupting with fireworks at the same time. It also came with dense layers of air pollution and a whole night of sound pollution. This is why some Diwalis ago, my family decided to stop doing the fireworks (also I could pocket the firework money). But we would still stand in the balcony for hours and watch our city light up around us :)
Happy Diwali everyone :)
How people line their houses with lamps.
This is the usual level of floor decoration with flowers and lamps
The lamps called "diyas" that we would hand-paint
The dry fruit boxes we would pack :P
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