Diwali in Distance

The thought Diwali takes me to a nostalgic memories of family shopping which would ideally start 3 weeks earlier, followed by my parents making various sweets and savouries. My sister and I would barge into the kitchen every now and then to taste the mixture, thattai, thengoyal, chocolate burfi, thenga burfi and so on. On the day of the Diwali all efforts will be taken to wake both of us starting with mom, followed by the various special entertainment on the television courtesy my dad and finally the noise of bursting crackers around our house. When we finally wake up we would be made to sit on a palagai and in no time be soaked with warm nalla yennai on the head. Once we are done with thalai kulial, we would take blessing from our grandfather and wear new clothes followed by the cracker bursting session. During the day we would have friends and neighbours coming over to exchange greeting and sweets.
This was probably the ideal way of celebrating Diwali few yrs ago. Today the entire concept is modernized and advanced. Sweets are made to order and crackers are sold at sky rocking rates and still there are people to buy it. Money overcomes authenticity of events. The other side of it you will also find thoughts and voices of individuals who dont burst crackers as it contributes to noise and pollution. For them Diwali just means a day off from work, meeting friends and great Dinner.

Today sitting in this cold country, i feel like Diwali is virtually celebrated. The joy of speaking, wishing and hearing about how our loved ones celebrate it back at home is only way i could relate to it. This day is special to me which is not realised person walking next to me on the street which means that responsibility and work routine is a part of life. Its probably like celebrating Christmas in Indian village. But despite all this i manged to contribute my bit by making thattai and carrot halwa and really feeling the spirit of celebrating Diwali from within my heart.

Hope i am back in India to celebrate it next year.