Diwali of my childhood...
As a child, Diwali was the most awaited festival for me before I swore my allegiance to Navratri. It was one of those festivals where the wait and long-ensuing preparations continue for ages and the actual festival day passes off in a quick flurry of new clothes, rangoli, puja, diyas, crackers and savouries.
The first indication of Diwali was the slight chill in the air as autumn continues her swift march into winter. Then there was the cleaning, I mean no corner of the house was left untouched. I am talking about my Mother's place. In my own house, I have a more flexible approach to cleaning. Both my Mother and Father, would devote the whole of weekends and some hours in the working week to cleaning. We kids chipped in where we could.
Meanwhile, my Dadima and my Mother would also decide on the 'items' to be made for Diwali. The regulars were always gujiyas (ghugras), my grandmother's special fried Diwali mixture, saata's (a type of balushahi), cholafadi, farsi puri, mini pakwaan, mohanthaal and of course chakli. (Have given links where I could so you have an idea what I'm talking about). Whew, right! And my mother was a busy doctor, and a perfectionist to boot, I have no clue how she did it. And of course, none of the sweets and savouries could be tasted before Diwali day.
In the meantime, new clothes were bought, and the firecrackers and the diyas washed and their baatis prepared. The day before Diwali, is Narak Chaturdashi, 14th day of Ashwin, and there was a certain protocol followed then as per my grandmother - w.r.t. mantras recitation, food, etc. Diwali day included mandatory head baths, wearing new clothes, doing puja. My duty was to fill keep the diyas ready for evening and also to make the rangoli - a task which made me happy and feel creative. A round to the temple to give some offerings followed.
Puja was done by the muhurats (auspcious timings) and mostly I've observed it falls in the evening time. At my place, there was first the invocation of Lord Ganesha, followed by Laxmi Puja done and also chopda puja (for the ledgers) - in keeping with the traditions of business families. We get a new book and write in it and then pray to it. Then it's time for Aarti and prasad. This is followed by lighting of diyas, the lanterns and kandeels being lit since a few days ago. Firecrackers come next and also the visits to neighbours with plates filled with home-made goodies. With so much food around, I hardly ate or felt like tasting anything.
Diwali day there was so much light, glitter, sound of bombs, and whooshes of rockets, I often remember walking with a heavy head because of the smoke of the crackers and the anticipation of some quiet soon. I would have to wait a bit as the next day of Diwali is mostly the start of the New Year for Gujaratis and this results in another round of visits and greetings of 'saal mubaraks'. In the aftermath of the festival is when I would enter the store to get my hands on some of the yummy sweets and savouries made at home, strangely relieved that it's over and one is getting back to normal pace of life.
The first indication of Diwali was the slight chill in the air as autumn continues her swift march into winter. Then there was the cleaning, I mean no corner of the house was left untouched. I am talking about my Mother's place. In my own house, I have a more flexible approach to cleaning. Both my Mother and Father, would devote the whole of weekends and some hours in the working week to cleaning. We kids chipped in where we could.
Meanwhile, my Dadima and my Mother would also decide on the 'items' to be made for Diwali. The regulars were always gujiyas (ghugras), my grandmother's special fried Diwali mixture, saata's (a type of balushahi), cholafadi, farsi puri, mini pakwaan, mohanthaal and of course chakli. (Have given links where I could so you have an idea what I'm talking about). Whew, right! And my mother was a busy doctor, and a perfectionist to boot, I have no clue how she did it. And of course, none of the sweets and savouries could be tasted before Diwali day.
In the meantime, new clothes were bought, and the firecrackers and the diyas washed and their baatis prepared. The day before Diwali, is Narak Chaturdashi, 14th day of Ashwin, and there was a certain protocol followed then as per my grandmother - w.r.t. mantras recitation, food, etc. Diwali day included mandatory head baths, wearing new clothes, doing puja. My duty was to fill keep the diyas ready for evening and also to make the rangoli - a task which made me happy and feel creative. A round to the temple to give some offerings followed.
Puja was done by the muhurats (auspcious timings) and mostly I've observed it falls in the evening time. At my place, there was first the invocation of Lord Ganesha, followed by Laxmi Puja done and also chopda puja (for the ledgers) - in keeping with the traditions of business families. We get a new book and write in it and then pray to it. Then it's time for Aarti and prasad. This is followed by lighting of diyas, the lanterns and kandeels being lit since a few days ago. Firecrackers come next and also the visits to neighbours with plates filled with home-made goodies. With so much food around, I hardly ate or felt like tasting anything.
Diwali day there was so much light, glitter, sound of bombs, and whooshes of rockets, I often remember walking with a heavy head because of the smoke of the crackers and the anticipation of some quiet soon. I would have to wait a bit as the next day of Diwali is mostly the start of the New Year for Gujaratis and this results in another round of visits and greetings of 'saal mubaraks'. In the aftermath of the festival is when I would enter the store to get my hands on some of the yummy sweets and savouries made at home, strangely relieved that it's over and one is getting back to normal pace of life.
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As a child i dreded Diwali!! Mostly because of the cleaning work around the house and because early wake up time :) . But of course i loved ghooghra, mathiya, chola fali, magas and chevdo!!
ReplyDeleteAnd if i happened to be at my grandma's place for diwali then i had great fun. Coz my mamas never said no to anything i wanted which meant i got the best crackers around.
Loved reading about your diwali memories :)
Thanks ZM, am forgetting a lot I think, I wrote mixture instead of chevdo:(
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