D(iwali) Day

I am just back from a much awaited trip home. This being my first Diwali after marriage, everyone back home was waiting eagerly for this. Both I and M had not made a trip home after marriage and were really looking forward to the Diwali vacation. We had planned to start from Pune on Oct 15^th so as to reach home by Oct 16^th-on time to be a part of the Choti Diwali pujan. Since we could shop only on weekends, we started shopping 3 weeks prior to our departure day. A lot of goodies were bought for all the kids at both my and M’s place - altogether 10 kids in the age group of 3-12 years with one more on the way.. J. I also got some gifts for my brother in law and bhabhi. We also got decorative Diyas, wall hangings and rangoli colors for our home in Pune as well for our home back in Orissa. Once all this was done, we finally shopped for ourselves - M got new shirts, trousers, etc and I bought a saree. Again as this was my first Diwali at my in-laws place, I wanted to get a good fancy saree and accessories. The one I bought is golden brown colored Georgette Saree (with a tinge of orange in it) which has very beautiful and intricate zardozi work all over it. Made quite a dent in M’s wallet…:-D

While we were busy shopping and packing our luggage, it wasn’t even sure if we would be making the trip. You see both M and I had critical project deliverables and getting leaves approved was turning out to be a difficult task. In order to avoid our family members getting disappointed at the end, we started communicating the same to them and setting the expectation that we might not be home for Diwali. Anyways finally M’s leaves were approved, however mine were still tentative – something which got approved just 2 days prior to the journey date. The train journey back home was fun… met a real nice and fun loving Gujarati family; the journey passed sharing food, singing songs, playing cards..I love train journeys especially all the eatables that you get in various stations that are on the way.. I made sure that M got down and brought me the specialty of each. J (No wonder I am putting on weight.. I just have N-O control when it comes to food.. and it’s showing.. L )

Finally we reached home.. it was around 9.30 pm and after quickly getting ready, all of us started the choti Diwali Puja. It was awesome being at home again after a gap of 10 odd months. Though both my parents and in-laws had visited Pune in this duration, the feeling of “being-at-home” is quite different when you are actually at your home.. your entire family.. your relatives..your neighbours.. your staff and all... J J After the puja, we all sat together for our dinner.. At my in-laws place, the four of us (I, M, M’s bro and bhabhi) always take our food together in a platter.. (its something I feel really good about.. I know little stupid but it makes me feel good. J My bro-in-law and bhabhi are really chilled out and so our equation is not at all like you will find in a typical Marwari household - if u have bro-in-law who is 6-8 years elder to you, you are generally not that free with him, however mine is simply superb.. One thing which is really great about both bhaiya and bhabhi is the sense of belongingness that they make you feel.. Since I got married, I have never felt as if these are new relations that I am building.. it was like they are mine and I am theirs since the beginning.. J And this is something I can say about my FIL and MIL too.. I thank God every single day for getting me married into such a beautiful family). After dinner, all of us sat together and opened the gifts that we had bought. By the time we retired into our rooms, it was already 3 am.

Diwali day started early for me, thanks to Amu who called me up at around 6.30 in the morning. Since everyone gets damn busy on D day, it was good that she caught me up in the morning itself. J And thanks again to her, this was the first time I got ready early in my sasural. ;-D As expected, Diwali was a hectic day.. the basic rituals performed at my sasural is same as what is done at my parent’s place, however there were few additional things that I had to do as this was my first marital year. In the evening, I and bhabhi made Rangoli in front of the entrance to our home. A cute little & extremely colorful Ganesha. J Bhaiya had bought some floating candles which I kept in a vessel filled with colored water & decorated it with flowers. Meanwhile Bhaiya and M got ready and started decorating the Puja room. It was already 7 pm by the time we completed our rangolis and everyone except I and bhabhi had changed into their new clothes. So we went running to our rooms, had a quick bath and got ready for the Puja. Along with the saree, I wore some of my wedding jewelry J (since these were pretty heavy, I hadn’t gotten a chance to wear them since my wedding day).

After the Diwali puja and dinner, we went to the houses of our close relatives (who stay in our neighboring houses) to seek blessings from the elders in the family. It took about nearly 1.5 hours to get this task completed, even though all the houses are very nearby. After coming back, we started bursting crackers. The kids in the house as expected were by my side, asking me to burst crackers with them. I used to be in a fix as to which group do I go to.. it was a tricky as well as funny situation to be in. J ... As always, bursting crackers was fun.. btw it did feel a little weird doing that in Saree.. :-D. All in all, a great Diwali celebration.. a perfect 10 for a first Diwali.. J Enjoyed it immensely.

PS: This post has been in my drafts folder for ages now.. I was thinking of writing about the entire trip home however I haven’t been able to complete it - want to post it before next diwali.. ;-D. Anyways it’s quite a long post already. So I am gonna just post it as it is. Feeling too lazy at the moment to write more or edit. Below is a picture of the rangoli we made.