Diwali – the festival of light

Indians all over the world welcome the festival of lights early each Fall. Deepavali, also known as Diwali is the biggest festival day and celebrations are planned with much joy and happiness. The festivities include wearing new clothes, lighting diyas, feasting and fun. Spiritually Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

Today as I was making the bakshanams (the sweets and the savouries), it triggered off nostalgia for all things associated with Deepavali in Pushpanjali, the house I grew up in.  I walk back into the Diwali of my youth, surrounded by family as I see so clearly in my mind's eye the festivities. As kids, while we were more interested in the new clothes and the pattaas (firecrackers), Amma had to make sure everything was kept ready for the constant stream of visitors that day. All the preparations started days ahead.

Amma would meticulously pick new clothes for each one of us and get them sewn by Mary tailor. That itself was a daunting task, as all his customers wanted their clothes stitched by Diwali. As the tailor worked overtime, we had to swing by his small workshop numerous times, and finally when we collected our clothes,  we were thrilled to see them fit perfectly. Now the clothes are ready to be kept in front of God in the Swami room to be worn for Diwali.

A week before, the bakshanam preparation would start. 2 mamis would come home to help amma make dabbas and dabbas of murukku, thatai, thengozhal, pakkodaam, muthuswaram, mixture, etc. Followed by sweets like Appa’s favourite badam halwa, Amma’s signature 2-layer milk and chocolate barfi, rava mittai and coconut barfi. By the end of the day, we had a storeroom filled with large dabbas of goodies.

 

Also, a week before, the firecrackers, the much anticipated part of Diwali, would be bought and stored in a large suitcase. 3 days before Deepavali, Kala, Usha, Uma and I would first divide the pattaas equally among us and then barter for the ones we liked better. Kala didn’t like the ones that made noise like the atom bomb or electric. We would trade with her giving our noiseless, colourful wire which she was so fond of. There was such a childish innocence and excitement in getting prepared for the day as we listed out the sequence we’d burst the crackers.  First light, then flowerpot, then changu chakram, vishnu chakram, atom bomb, lakshmi vedi, kuruvi vedi, electric, rocket and so on. This was the beginning of the most exciting 2 day festival. And we waited eagerly for the day of Diwali.

The night before Diwali, after dinner, we took out our own boxes of firecrackers with enthusiasm and started off bursting a part of the firecrackers which were set aside for this evening. It was like a preliminary to what was to come on the big day. We tried to persuade Thayi, our help and Sundari, her daughter, to come home as early as they could the next morning to come to give us the oil bath. As we negotiated the time, we even suggested they could just sleep over at our place. Amma cleaned up the swami area, and arranged all our new clothes, the davara (the small stainless steel utensil) with the nalennai (oil), and the lamps in front of the mandapam. Although Appa kept telling us to go to sleep so that we can get up early the next day, we just couldn’t sleep with all the excitement and the joy brimming in our hearts and the occasional sound of the pattaas from neighbouring houses and the swishing sound of rockets that went on late through the night.

And finally, the much-awaited Diwali day dawned, reaching the zenith of our excitement. As the clocks chimed the brahmamuhurtham time, at 4am, and the alarm shrieked, we jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. It's indeed a special day since no other day and nothing else could get us out of bed that early. Amma put a dollop of oil on our head, and we quickly raced to see who could get into the bathroom to wash off the oil with the shikkai powder. Each of us occupied the 3 bathrooms in the house and Thayi moved from one to the other to get the oil bath going. It is a standard ritual and referred to as “Ganga snaanam”, equal to bathing in the Ganges. Then we decked ourselves in the finery set aside for the day and ran outside to start our day bursting the crackers and wishing our neighbours. By now, the celebrations were in full swing casting a radiant glow over the city. 

Meanwhile the house was bustling with activity. Amma, making a variety of food starting off with the traditional idli, vadai, sambar, chutney for breakfast. We waited for Pushpa and athimbere who usually came home early in the morning with Harish and Vinoo as they made their rounds visiting family to wish Happy Diwali. The bakshanams (sweets and savories) would make their way to the dining table for snacking all through the day. Athai and Athimbere with Ravi, Sundar would come by later after their temple rounds. Vichu, Balu, Ramani and Shankar would troop into the house at various times of the morning all in their new finery.

There was a tradition in Rama Rao road where we grew up. We could see the comradeship each Diwali when the neighbours all came together to celebrate this festival as one. Each house in the neighbourhood contributed Rs 20 and with almost Rs 400 would buy one huge electric pattaas which stretched all the way from Jikki and Cheeni’s house to the end of the Flats. Sometimes the honour of lighting that pattaas went to the person celebrating thalai deepavali, etc. A time would be fixed for that vedi to be lit and each and every one from every household came together to witness this. Once lit, this long stretch of pattaas would keep the bursts going for what seemed to last for a long time. At the end of it, everyone cheered with a burst of applause as the smoke filled the air and the feeling of  glee and happiness reverberated through the street. We then retired to our homes for a fine meal and connecting with family and friends.

These flashbacks on my days at Pushpanjali encourages me to create long lasting memories for the next generation. By telling why Diwali is celebrated and giving them a slice of the experience, I hope to achieve that dream.

While some believe Deepavali or Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama from his 14 year exile and is celebrated with pomp and glory, in the south, its believed that Krishna killed the demon Narakasura and the triumph of evil is celebrated on that day. Some also believe it is the celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth with Lord Vishnu. And for me, I would like to start creating new memories for my children and grand children by making it a special occasion for them.