I get in a completely festive mood. What XMAS is to kids is
what Diwali is to me! I reminisce about my Diwali celebrations back home in
India. Highlights were buying new clothes, cleaning out closets, re-arranging
books, decorating the house, helping mum with her sarees, buying new clothes
etc. Like any other Indian Festival, The food was the highlight. My mom would
slave for hours preparing our favorite dishes and the traditional food that
goes with Diwali.
Firecrackers was definitely not my thing at all. Partly due
to the environmental and noise pollution philosophies our schools imbibed in us
and partly because papa said, whatever you spend on firecrackers we could use
for something else. Which my enterprising brother would invest and well me, I
would buy more clothes.
Fast forward to now, my kids are growing up here in US, in
this melting pot of cultures. We celebrate Indian festivals, American
Festivals, Hallmark festivals, basically anything and everything which makes it
fun for the kids and involves sugary treats. But Diwali, I go above and beyond.
It's our annual tradition, we call it our 'Diwali Dhamaka'
We have all our friends over, its one massive gathering with lots of food, lots
of Indian finery, lots of pictures and pooja. Lighting up 'PhoolJhari's/
sparklers', Kids painting diya's and rangoli's and our new highlight: The kids
practicing and performing a Diwali Dance with all our friends cheering along!
I love how My Chatterbox has been thinking of songs that she
and her friends could dance to. I love how she is thinking of new ways to
decorate the house, the clothes she would wear, the excitement of the days
itself. I am seeing the wonder in my little lady's eyes as she sees this chaos
around. I think she is just excited about the 'mithai' and the 'dressing up'. I do hope that with
time, they really do remember the festivities and the joys of this big
gathering of friends and family.
Wishing you a very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year.
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