Diwali and the meanings it hold

Diwali, as we know it, is the most celebrated festival in India. As they say, the reasons fade away, the essence carries itself on. Today, no one really relates to what Lords Ram and Sita did back in time or what special happened in history that the whole country bathes in light this day. Rather, it comes as a reason to celebrate—everyone having their own. Let’s try to sneak peek into the different worlds and the meaning Diwali holds for their inhabitants.  

Kids

Diwali is when they can act as silly as possible without fearing of having their nose broken or getting a good spanking because everyone else is too busy to notice them.

Married women

It’s that time of the year when they get to dress up their best, the time slightly lesser in importance than Karva Chauth. Apart from dressing well, a good part of their or rather their husbands’ fortune is spent in things which no one else would ever had bothered to even look at before­­ – furnishings. In short, they have to change every ‘non-living’ thing which surrounds them because IT’S Diwali.

Married men

Well, their part of the story is typically sad. An old Chinese saying makes me more empathetic with this lot, it is easier said than done being a husband of a happy wife. He would spend the money wherever instructed to, he would carry the shopping bags when his ‘madam’ would happily hop from shops to shops, he would tolerate her bargaining in a grand shopping mall, he would take care of the kids who would show zero sympathy to their dad and would continue to make a monkey of themselves at public places, he would pick her sandals, stoles, hanky, watches and every random thing madam thinks she should not wear while getting henna applied on her hands, he would treat her at a restaurant as a mandatory fee for taking her out and STILL, he would bag seeing frowning faces as an award for marrying a nag and also, for trying to put up with her (let’s not consider the consolation prizes they have ‘earned’ as a part of their initial happy marriage – the kids – who are least bothered anyway). J

The lot that earns but doesn't know where to throw that money off

Well, this one is a bit different. Since they have just stepped into the corporate world and now started hearing money clinking in bank accounts at the end of every month, they don’t think it’s is valid enough to spend a holiday at home because their parents think that way. So, we see a lot of private clubs holding card parties and DJ nights sprouting up in the town.  

Older generation

This one has the saddest story to tell. They have seen the good old times when families used to get together to celebrate and they had a better hold on decision making in the family; when Diwali was rather a religious festival and the primary aspect of it was the ‘puja’ that used to happen at night; when they were the most respected in the family and their position was no less than a PM’s in a country. Now, things have turned rather upside down for them. They think they are as good as pieces of furniture, or even worse – the furniture is still cleaned or taken care of occasionally. The oldest lot looks down on the way Diwali is celebrated now and if it’s a couple, tell each other what they miss the most. Nonetheless, Diwali brings a reason for them to flash back and relive the old Diwalis they have celebrated.

For me

I, undoubtedly, do not belong to any of the lots, for it’s a unique ME. For me, this was a time to try something new, new hairstyle, makeup and pepped-up jewelry, which I would never have done otherwise. Puja, new clothes, bursting crackers and spending quality time with family members was something I got as bonus. In short, I had the time of my life this Diwali. Here are a few pics for you to sneak peek into how my world looked that day.  

A gift I had received from previously a colleague, now a friend - a pearl set.

A fish-style braid I tried to make

That's me. 

Watching from the stands

They say playing in the arena and watching the game from the stands are like night and day; both might not narrate the same part of the story and one might just take back home a hundred versions or a thousand perspectives to chew over.

I remember one of my close friends quoting her experience of a random party that she was compelled to attend. Being advised by a dentist, who was more concerned of his fee than her molars, to not touch anything which could harm the expensive root canal treatment, she kept her hands off the hard drinks and surprisingly, ended up enjoying more than the times when she was happily drunk, anyway unable to notice things happening around.

According to her, she lived every moment of the elation and also laughed off several bloopers which drunkards around were unwittingly landing themselves in, unaware of the fact that some exceptional, conscious mortals might have their eyeballs fixed on them. She also imagined herself doing the same, enjoying the tastes of varied IMFLs, and catching all the limelight having made a monkey of self. Anyway, she said it was total fun watching hardy guys puke, oh-so-sensitive girls fall on the dance floor, happy-go-lucky types cry while pouring their emotions out and elderlies dance like no one’s watching.

According to her, being amongst the party animals and eying on them while sipping fruit juices were two distinct experiences all together. While former would leave you least concerned about the world around, the latter would give you hundreds of hush-hush stories to gossip about and thousands of instances to watch and fracture your rib cage while laughing.

I experienced a similar case of watching a game from the stands during this holi. Since we were not supposed to play along this year, we basked in watching others make merry while soaking themselves in colors, water, filth and, of course, bhang. Here are my tablets of observations, coated with loads of sarcasm:

 

1. I saw oh-aah-ouch girls merrily throw water-filled balloons on random guys and hiding away when the guys gave them what these girls eagerly sought after, their attention!
2. I noticed several haw-Namaste-nahi-bola aunties rub gulaal off each other’s faces while complaining about their hard-to-tame kids.  
3. I also managed to catch a glimpse of henpecked uncles have a day off their wives and get mirthfully drunk in the daytime.
4. I viewed the world around me so jubilantly drenched, from their crowns to cuticles, in colors unknown, only to wash them off during the later half of the day.
5. I observed one of the self-proclaimed dudes of our society, under the influence of his favorite ‘unknown’ liquor, listen to the same song blare in his car in the repetitive mode for the entire day.
6. I relished watching numerous kids run in unison to color and wet every new member, only to add the person targeted to the group and further look for a new target.
7. I viewed several ageds enjoying the euphoria which so gave them a break from their usual dull lonely routine.
8. I loved the smell of gulaal around, which filled the air with loads of toxicity and agents to cause allergy.

In short, I saw this holi from the stands and realized how I missed getting mad along with the crowd, being totally mucky this one day of the year, only to wash the stains off the rest of the 364 days. J

Colours of Diwali!

One more festival and thus, the euphoria. Diwali. Here are a few pictures of the festival and the value it holds for an average Indian. Enjoy watching these and do remember to leave your valuable feedback.

Rangoli - I

Rangoli-II

Rangoli - III

Rangoli - IV

Rangoli -V

Rangoli - VI

Playing with fire (the fire crackers)

Puja - I

Puja - II

Home decorations - I

Home decorations - II

Home decorations - III

Home decorations - IV

Home decorations -V

Henna

Series of festivities!

We so determinedly say that we are Indians, but seldom have we seen it the way a foreigner would. Rarely do we try to get into details and examine the affairs happening around us with even a pinch of curiousity. Well, I would not count myself out of the lot, but I dare say that past two days have changed things in me to a great extent. Reasons are two – Durga Pujo and Dussehra.

These two days must have crossed me every year for more than 2 decades but never I stopped and tried to understand their history or the reason why they took over a person’s lifestyle. This time having closely felt the drum beats coinciding with my heart thumps, I surely lived these two events.

Having taken the pain to travel all the way to CR Park and convinced my parents to accompany me, I was pretty excited to witness what I never had before. In fact, I could not distract myself from thinking about the super-awesome food being sold there, which my friend Debbie could not even stop to breathe while talking about. Thus, commences my accumulation of insights and observances.

CR Park is a home to a large Bengali community in Delhi and as Wikipedia says, today despite its growing cosmopolitan demographics, it remains home to a flourishing Bengali community, and hub to Kolkata-style street food stalls, offering Bengali cuisine, fish markets, temples and cultural centers. And, Durga Pujo is six days of worship of Hindu Goddess Durga, wrapped in loads of fun, frolic, excitement, music, dance and exhilarating celebrations. At CR Park, I not only witnessed huge pandals of Goddess Durga but also skipped a beat while watching people dancing to please her, carrying huge, nicely decorated drums. Not to forget the food, which was as deflecting as ever! I also could not stop looking at nicely dressed men and women, who were probably wearing their best dresses, further decking themselves up with their best of accessories and jewelry. Thus, with all this merrymaking, my day ended with a hard-to-extinguish excitement of being a part of such a colorful event.

The next day, Dussehra was equally jazzy and vibrant. Derived from a Sanskrit word, Dasha-hara meaning ‘remover of bad fate’, this festival is celebrated on the tenth day of Maha Navratri. It is also believed that this day, Lord Shri Ram killed the great demon, Ravana, who had abducted Rama’s wife Sita and took her to his kingdom of Lanka. I witnessed the burning of effigies of Ravana, which was filled with lots of firecrackers, which in turn is believed to purify the atmosphere.

In other words, these were two memorable experiences which pulled and tied me closer to my culture and beliefs. Here are a few pictures of the same:

Pandals at Durga Pujo

Fireworks at Dussehra

The Ravana effigy