Sulking in my room dimly lit, the only sound I hear around me are from the strokes from my keyboard as I type and some sounds of laughter from outside the quaint pub across the street. Those laughter sounds seem to fade away. So I assume those people moved. All I am left with now is the QWERTY crackers this Diwali.
A little while ago, I spoke to my parents back home where all my relatives have gathered to enjoy the festivities together. This is one of the most beautiful aspects of a festival. In this fast paced world where people are too busy to even enjoy their own lives, its moments such as these that bring people together and rests faith in humanity that knows to share joy, love and happiness. Of the many festivals that we celebrate, Diwali is my favorite as it is much more than just another celebration. It is the excuse for kids to get new clothes. It is yet another day of shopping for the ladies with newer and better arrivals carefully designed to extend their shopping time endlessly. It is the much deserved break for the men from their everyday toil at work. It is the time when the shop owners light up their shops and decorate them to attract shoppers. It is the excitement for the village folks to come to the city and be amazed at its sheer vibrance and to pick their favorite clothes. It is the hope for the several thousand folks who have come to the city to earn their bread and now would like to go home and spend the Diwali with their near and dear ones. While the festival glows in such glory, we should not forget that this is also the time of the year when several innocent and hard working kids in the cracker factories lose their lives in the dark while working to brighten up the lives for others.
Diwali marks the return of Lord Ram victorious after his battle with Ravan in Sri Lanka. This is a two day festival but preparations and the festive mood begin as early as a week before the actual day. The way it works out in our family is we all decide to meet up at either one of our homes and celebrate Diwali together. The ladies get busy with making delicious sweets and snacks. The men get ready to empty their wallets while the kids help them in the same. Me, my brother and my cousins used to get flyers from all firework shops to decide and make a budget on what to buy this Diwali. This is no easy task and trust me, is usually better than most presidential debates or at least the most recent one. The crackers come in hundreds of varieties and colors and sounds. There are the usual set of fire fountains, wheels , bombs and rockets and then there are themed crackers that usually represent movie stars, national icons and sports. We carefully go through the exhaustive list and decide on about three dozen of them that we think would not be too much of spending by dad. We usually come up with an estimate much beyond our dad's and then we finally agree on the average.
There is always this gleam that we used to sport on our faces as we purchased those crackers and brought them home. It was as if we had won a million dollars as promised by that UK bank in my spam email or the apple i-pad that we were supposed to win for being the 1000th visitor to a particular website. Kids often boast of their set of crackers as being the best over their friends'. All of them do. Finally, on the day of Diwali, it would turn out that all of them have almost the same set of crackers. The day of Diwali is marked by several customs and traditions that have been followed and passed on through ages and generations. This includes a special oil bath in hot water mixed with a few drops of the holy Ganga river, a body smear of sheekakai, accept the new dresses from the eldest member of the family after doing namaskarams and then you are all set to get started with your decibel show. I have always stayed in an apartment complex and we always had the curiosity to see who would burst the first set of crackers for the day. I remember getting up as early as 3 am to give some time for the rituals and be the alarm bang for the residents. AFter several hours of bursting crackers and taking pictures, we go back home to have a heavy feast and then conquer the couch to watch the special shows on TV. Sweets and snacks are then exchanged with friends and neighbors. When the sun has seen enough of the city and decides to retire, we go back to our cracker business again. This cycle repeats for the next two days. The remainders of the crackers are saved for a later festival that comes a month from now.
As the two day festival draws to an end, its time to dive back to the routine everyday life. Relatives bid adieu, shops start to reopen, buses and trains swarm the city as they bring back people from all around the state back to their jobs, kids get sulky about getting back to school and dad gets ready for their usual work. And moms, they are extra special and all they need now is a big thank you from all of us and some much deserved and needed rest for the rest of week. But such wonderful people moms tend to be, you find your lunch packed in your boxes before leaving to school the next morning.
It is Diwali today and I now have to go to bed for I have a project submission later this afternoon and an assignment the next day. Happy Diwali to me!
-Sayee
