Yesterday, i asked my mom, why she wasn't buying herself something for Diwali. She said it felt weird going Saree shopping on her own. She had a point. So we went to Kumaran Silks and picked up a couple of Sarees for her. We went to the Khadi next door and i picked up something for myself. The last time i had acknowledged Diwali (or any festive occasion for that matter) and did anything active centred around it was the last one we had in Trichy, in 1997.
When we reached home, mom busied herself making 'Diwali marundhu'. 'Marundhu' in Tamil means medicine, and 'Diwali marundhu' is usually had to aid in the digestion of the 15 kilos of random sweets an average family consumes on Diwali day (atleast in Tamilnadu). She makes very good 'marundhu', and Dad used to be a big fan of it (apparently mom learnt the recipe for it from Dad's mom). I knew she hadn't made it in a while. So i asked her when was the last time she made it. She said she hadn't made it after our last Diwali in Trichy. I can't think of an explicit reason, but i know that if the 'dress buying' act had not happened, the 'marundhu making' act wouldn't have happened either. I was glad we went through the exercise.
I had stopped doing a lot of things because they stopped appealing to me. But, you knock off a loud 'Happy New year' wish, a thoughtful 'Happy Birthday' phone call, new dresses, family dinners and 100-waalas for a Diwali, Baby-Krishna feet and 'Vella seedai' for Krishna Jayanthi, and hordes of other such stuff, there is very little magic left and life gets too drab. If your parents hadn't done anything about such occasions, you'd lose half your happy childhood memories. I am in the process of convincing myself that it is a great idea to wear new clothes and take a bite of home made Coconut burfi to celebrate Lord Krishna's killing of Naragasura...It'll take some effort but i guess i'll get there.
Anyways, if you're the celebrating kinds, wish you and your family a very Happy Diwali...Else, well, try and jump back into the bandwagon sometime...Sometimes it is nice to unlearn and do silly things, like bursting crackers with a 10 year old...
This one, all grown up!
8 years ago
11 comments:
Happy Deepavali Avinash. I completely agree with u that, without doing all these festivities,however silly they may be, life becomes a bit drab.
BTW, in the process of convincing u'rself abt celebrating diwali, did u slightly replace the characters to give it new life? Muruga seems to have taken the place of Krishna. Or is it that the thought of celebration reminded u of Muruga (temple) ;) near PEC that in turn found a way here;)
Long time! Happy Diwali to you too!
Know what - I wish folks celebrate Diwali at least once a fortnight! eat lots of sweets, don't worry about going to work and sending status reports (well, I haven't done that in a couple of years so it's been Diwali all along in that sense:), feel good despite the fact that most of your earnings is with FII's now :)
See, Diwali serves as a reminder to feel happy once in a while. I feel that's not the way it should be, once the basic needs (food, clothes, shelter, and should I add, marriage? ;-) are taken care, but human brains don't keep things that simple :-)
Mac
Hey Avinash,
what an interesting post - specially considering I myself am losing interest in such things (which is weird cos I usually get VERY excited about diwali, xmas and republic day - yes even republic day)
I did not buy new clothes, the only sweets at home wwas jhangri (usually there is kaju katli and peds as well) - it was rather silent and rab. With me I find my parents are losing interst as they grow old, and it seems to rub off on me. And then again from my own end I could do things to make the air festive - but I suppose we all go through a phase where we question what we do, or we just prefer to be low key. Or do you think a feeling of spirituality replaces the material? where there is no need to indulge in rituaks such as sweets and clothes, as long as you say your silent prayer to laxmi? I dont know...
But now that I have read this - hmm - I might as well buy a new dress :)
Balaji - Oops...yeah Krishna it should've been, will correct it..And Muruga temple of PEC was not relevant for me, was a teetotaler back in college :)...
Canary - Yeah long time...Welcome back...I've been reading your stuff though, just that i haven't left a comment in a while...
Mac - Of course there'll always be intermittent moments of fun and laughter...like our gumbal's Eden visits...But when you're sucked up in routine, which inevitably happens, events like Diwali probably force you to stop, look around and have some fun..I don't have a problem with that...
Trauma - Yea, guess it is a cycle...And yep go buy your pink top and blue jean :)...
update:
i ate SO many sweets yesterday - i have a tummy ache :(
i think the last time that happened, was back in school
:)
Hope you had a Happy Deepavali ! I go the whole nine yeards, precisely for the reason you stated. It is my tie to my childhood memories. Living alone in an alien country, that tie takes a meaning I can only hope to describe.
I bought myself several new clothes, threw a diwali party, lost a few bucks playing poker, ate like a pig, made a big colourful kolam, lit lot of lamps and spent the rest of the time wishing I was back home with my family.
" ... process of convincing myself that it is a great idea ...." ---
CHANGE is the buzz word now
-- simhan
I agree with lakshmi ..
CHANGE is the buxx word and i see that in Avinaash in the last few months. CHANGE is for good machi.
Keep going ...
ragzzmatazz - Hmm...i've never stayed away from India long enough to truly miss it...But yea i get your drift and it seems natural...
lakshmi, vasanth - Yeah, change it is...and also, 'Yes we can, we can' :)...
Nice one... liked it...
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