The festival of Lights? colors? relationships?

Every festival has its own place in everyone's life. It must be because, it brings in a lot of happiness by getting together as a family. Or may be exchange of gifts make all of us happy. Or some specific traditions that each festival brings along with it, which kind of takes you off the routine. Overall, I believe a festival gives you the much needed break from the routine and reboots your self to create a fresh thought process and rejuvenate that energy you need to achieve the milestones in life. Of the many Indian festivals, Diwali has a very important place in every Indian's life; particularly because it is a subset of all the Indian festivals that exist during the course of the year.

My attraction towards the festival has always been the colors and the brightness that this festival brings in our life. The celebrations for Diwali start off well before the actual festival does. Every individual of any age group is always waiting for the "Great Indian Festival" so they can shop. Clothes, Electronics, Crackers, Shoes, Accessories and what not. Everyone wants something or the other. An average middle class Indian family, knows that Diwali means the highest of the discounts. I am sure the statement "Ah the TV seems to be giving some problem, lets exchange this during Diwali!" was almost like a proverb used in every Indian Middle Class household in the 90's. Today, this saying has reached almost every household, big or small. I am sure each and everyone of us has a separate story to tell when the History of Diwali comes into picture. Frankly, every geographical region in India has a story to tell.

But what is it that makes this festival special. The history? The shopping? The lights? The colors?

So this year I did a couple of things in Diwali. The Lights! I pulled out all these beautiful looking necklaces of flashy-blinking lights that I had and started conceptualizing how the balcony would look. In almost an 2 hours time I brought them all up and had made the necessary connections. The certification was when my 8-year old came running into the balcony and said "Pappa! The lights are looking really wonderful!".

Next, I moved towards the next target. My all-time favourite, Rangoli. I have never been a cracker person. The sound and the smoke actually scares me. So, from the time I was young, me and my sisters would take the time off and try to be creative with all the colors and mud that we had. The cramped passages in Mumbai, never turned us off. In-fact the challenge was to be as creative as possible in the smallest space available.

So, after 15 years or so, I decided to try my luck at freehand again. After about an hours work, I was fairly successful. The icing on the cake was when wifey decorated all the pieces with the diyas. Two of these diyas were painted by my 8-year old. I always tell my wifey, that whenever we do something together it always impresses the masses. So, this one did too.

However, this Diwali was even more special. Particularly, as Mummy and Pappa have shifted in to Pune and now stay very close. The last 4-5 months or so have been really enjoyable and less stressful in its own way. My parents and in-laws stay very close to us. My son, has the privilege to spend this Diwali with both the set of Grandparents. A privilege that I never had and always missed a lot.

So what did I learn? Coming back to our question... Why is Diwali an important festival?

Diwali I believe, brings your family a lot closer. As a son, brother, father, husband; I have the opportunity to spend more time with my closest ones. The shopping, the lights, the colors, the vacation; all that can be secondary. But the true reason is that via Diwali all of us can grow and preserve the bonds with our close relatives and friends. I believe, this is what rejuvenates each and every one of us.