Diwali is the only festival that is celebrated with some enthusiasm in our family. Tam-Bram me, my GSB hubby and my two daughters, who actually grew up without knowing or following any religious rituals, look forward to festivals only because they mean days off from school/work!

We live in a cosmopolitan locality in North Bangalore, where you will not find the usual hustle and bustle accompanying the numerous festivals in our country. The usual Office Professional Plus 2013 key ‘Habba’ scene is missing from our area, unlike say, Malleswaram, or Jayanagar, or Basavanagudi. These areas suddenly come alive during the local 2V0-621D festivals. One will find a profusion of flowers, fruits, vegetables in the bazars; shopping centers start sporting bright lights, festoons, and streamers and the streets get crammed with windows 10 key sale vendors, shoppers, and the like.

But Jayamahal is different. The neighborhood Hanuman Temple, of 070-464 course, does get decked up on important festivals and during Christmas, the neighborhood church wears a festive look. An Idgah and a Masjid add the Ramzan flavor. Some Hindu households sport brightly coloured Rangoli near their entrances on auspicious days and one can see Christmas lanterns hanging from a few Christian homes too, during Christmas season.

But our house wears the same look all year round; a clean front yard with fresh mango leaf ‘thoran’ on Ugadi day, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Diwali.

Ugadi, which symbolizes the New Year, is usually spent with my in-laws, who live in Malleswaram, and Ganesh Chaturthi, at my husband’s ancestral village near Mangalore.

Diwali is the one festival that we celebrate at home.  The usual pre-Diwali ‘Great Clean Up’ is mandatory! Every inch, every corner, every nook of the house gets the annual scrub, a task that is not very popular with the rest of the family! Once the house is cleaned, windows and beds and sofas get new clothes to wear, just like the rest of us! All the appliances and gadgets also get a good SY0-401 brushing! And then, it’s time to spread the cheer!

Sweets are arranged in decorative plates and distributed around the neighborhood. When my daughters were younger, they would love to wear their new clothes and go round, proudly holding platters. Now that they are all grown up, they just like to do their rounds quickly! The customary early morning oil bath buy Office Professional Plus 2013 key has now been reduced to a late, lazy shampoo shower and the fire-crackers are more for sight than for sound in our family for the past 712-50 decade and half, thanks solely to the presence of our dogs!

The one tradition that continues, is the lighting of the lamps! There is a feeling of pure joy, of hope, and of enlightenment as the diyas 210-451 are lit, and placed in rows around the house, on window sills, or around the tulsi tree, lighting up 070-243 the sky, dispelling the darkness and holding out the promise of good things to come.

 

 

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In Mythology and More, Writersbrew gives you a glimpse of Diwali as our writers celebrate it. The festival has different significance in different parts of buy windows 10 key India, among the various Hindu communities. Take a look at some of these customs, enjoy the stories. Here’s to light, everywhere.

 

First published on 5/28/2016.