Our Kind Of Diwali!

Have been thinking since long about the first topic for my blog, because as the saying goes, first impression is the last impression. So it had to be appealing, commendable and applaud able. (OK, too many adjectives! 😉 ) After giving some thought, I finally ended up taking the so called “extra” or miscellaneous topic (and not the major one, i.e. fashion) for my first blog post. There were two major reasons for taking up the festive topic, first one being, I am starting to write my blog just a few days before Diwali and the second one being, its one of my very few loved and awaited festivals of the year. So, why not to get started with something that you love?

Candle light! 🕯

Voila! So let’s get started.

Diwali! The moment we Indians listen to this word, all our imaginations get working, with lights, diyas, rangolis, good & tasty food, fire crackers, chocolates, gifts, sweets and not to forget, the most important, holidays and ample amount of family time.

Hand crafted Diya. My bestie gifted this.

The most awaited festival of the year by many like me. I am not too much into festivals, but Diwali is amongst my most awaited festivals of the year. I always celebrate an environment friendly and animal friendly Diwali or as a matter of fact, any other festival. So no fire crackers for me, no noise pollution, no air pollution, although a few phooljhadis can be an exception to do the so called “shagan” for Diwali. I have other reasons of my love for this festival. I’ve been born and brought up in Gujarat, and in this part of the land, I’ve always seen people celebrating each festival with great zeal and enthusiasm. Gujarati’s enjoy every festival to the extreme. They have a thing for festivals. People in this part of our country celebrate New Year, which happens to be on the very next day of Diwali. And then there is Bhai Dooj (a fest celebrating the brother-sister bond), so all in all the celebrations continues for a few days here.

Flower petal Rangoli! 🌸🏵

What I love about Diwali is, I get a chance to decorate my house with candles and mirchi lights and floating diyas, floating flowers and flower petal rangolis. My house lights up so beautifully. I may be a little biased but it’s a treat to the eyes. There are guests, friends and relatives pouring in and the entire house has a positive aura to it. And how can I miss the gifts and the sweets and the dinner invites which has all the mouth watering savories decked up on the dinner table. Oh my! I am already lost. 😉

Mirchi lights 💡

I am sharing last few years Diwali pictures when I decorated my place. All this can be done very easily with minimum fuss and without spending a fortune. And you can have a ‘Diwali House’ ready in just a few hours.

Floating candles and flowers 💐

But over and above all this, all of my family gets the chance to unite and have a good family time, share a good laugh over a scrumptious lunch or dinner. And over a glass of scotch (not wine), we just let the festivity absorb the chaos of the daily hectic lives we all live. And the elders share a word of wisdom or two covered with their jokes and we all take a walk down the memory lane during such sessions. THAT’S DIWALI FOR ME AND MY LOVED ONES! So even when my family cannot celebrate any festival for a year, as my granny’s soul parted from amongst us just a little more than a month back, still my family can always have OUR KIND OF DIWALI, without crackers and celebrations and decorations, but with togetherness and loads of love. And I guess that’s just how my Granny would also want it to be, looking from the heaven above and showering her blessings on her family, who are all smiling and happy and at some point in their conversation, wishing she still could be amongst them.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year! 🙂

Create, recreate and generate!

Keep the love flowing. ♥

Namrata Chadha.