Diwali is here!! Along with the inseparable childhood memoirs ..

As the festival of lights prepares to set in, I cannot but reminisce the lovely time I have had during this occasion as a child. Diwali to me brings an image of my eldest uncle’s home teeming with people. I can almost smell the aromatic ghee that used to tingle my nostrils as my aunts and mom laboriously prepared sweets and savouries. I can hear the chaos and cacophony that my cousins and I created as we ran about the house, sometimes playing, sometimes fighting and sometimes crying if the elder brothers bullied us. We’d get up as early as 4.30 AM on d day, bathe and excitedly receive our new dresses from thatha(my grandfather) who would give it to us after applying a small pinch of turmeric on it.  Once ready, we would go out of the house onto the road to burn away the sparklers and watch them in awe and glee and then hide inside the house with hands tightly clapped to our ears as the relatively elder ones amongst us started bursting the noisy crackers. Rest of the day would go by in visiting neighbours to distribute sweets and receiving them at home in turn.  

Today, the magic that Diwali held for us while we were kids has faded away.  Crackers don’t interest us anymore. A new dress does not mean excitement, what with all of us earning and buying at whim. But I am very glad that we enjoyed those thrills together while it still held its charm and now have those memorable Diwalis to reminisce and laugh about, each time we get together. The things that we enjoy may change with age, but the memories that get created as we outgrow each stage are gifts to cherish forever. They have the power to retain the bonds between people and the ability to bring about that irrepressible smile as we watch similar scenes later on J  

So this time, Diwali for me is an occasion to thank God for blessing me with such wonderful people to spend my life with and for the lovely memories that growing up with them has created. As I pray to God for their welfare and for our sense of oneness to continue, I also ask him to grant me and my cousins the resolve to give the same kind of environment that our parents gave us, to the generation that comes after us. I can already see the kids of my cousins and my sister bonding very well with each other and am very thankful for it.  I strongly wish that it continues and they get to grow in the same ocean of love and oneness that we all grew up in. They must also get a treasure trove of memories to cherish just like we have. That will be the best gift that we can give them during each Diwali.

Let us all thank God for the light in our lives and may we always spread joy by illuminating the lives of people around us. Wish you all a very very happy Diwali !!!