Diwali Reminiscences

And the phone rings. In the midst of all the diwali greeting cards, dry fruits, diyas, sweets and food, which is made by the best chefs in the world, you could hear the greetings of “Happy Deepavali, Happy Diwali” being sent from half way across the world to doorsteps of your very neighbor. The familiarity, the brightness, exuberance, the familial tranquility and yet the hustle bustle.

As if evil was a ragged cloth ready to be discarded, as if the past year’s pains and worries were nothing but specks of dust on a window pane, as if strained relationships were as overwrought as a self-correcting ripple, it feels like the muck, filth and sins were just wiped away by the giant swoop of our annual housecleaning ritual.

Houses are clean, temples are lit, sweets are distributed and then at night crackers are lit. Each year brings a dual feeling of some abstraction and collegial similitude.

“Wake up, beta. Your new clothes are kept near the desk. And, is the time to wake up on a Diwali. You don’t want to be left sleeping the whole year, do you?”

You knows its untrue, you know that grounds hog day doesn’t run on religious occasions, but yet the prospect of doing any harm, inflicting any pain, inabilities of any kind just retract us into our righteous selves, just this time with added enthusiasm. With a certain resolve, you arise and think of goodness as a box of pendas, ready to be eaten and passed around. And then it strikes….

“Mom, Unfair – Bhaiya just ran into the shower before me!” And you make a wish for the New Year that atleast for once - you make it to the shower before your siblings.

You walk into the Puja room, where you expect unusual occurrences. You wish for a giant car, you wish for a happiness in business and profession, family and friends and then when time permits, slip in a request or two about that extra bonus, better results, and if you are younger than that, you wish that Ganeshji would personally descend from his comfort chair and whisper something in dad’s ear which would sound like – a remote controlled car.

Yet – at the bottom of it all, be it Hindus, be it Muslims, be it Parsis, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, or even an atheist – you wish to speak to relatives and sit down for a nice meal of purri bhaaji and purran pollis with them.

Happy Diwali everyone. May you achieve everything you set out to do this year.

Yaa Kundendu tushaara haaradhavalaa, Yaa shubhravastraavritha|
Yaa veenavara dandamanditakara, Yaa shwetha padmaasana||
Yaa brahmaachyutha shankara prabhritibhir Devaisadaa Vanditha|
Saa Maam Paatu Saraswatee Bhagavatee Nihshesha jaadyaapahaa||"