I celebrated Diwali with my family in Ahmedabad, Gujurat (which I have now been told is in Western India and Northwest India, as I’ve always said). It’s the first Diwali I’ve spent in India since I was about 7 – which I don’t really remember.
Diwali is the biggest holiday in India – like Christmas and New Year’s combined. It’s a five-day festival in Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism and marks the beginning of a new year (based on the lunar calendar). In Delhi, we had two days off to celebrate, but in some places, like Gujurat, the holiday is for the entire 5 days after the New Year.
The name Diwali is a contraction of the word "Deepavali", which translates into row of lamps. Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. In each legend, myth and story of Diwali, lies the significance of the victory of good over evil; and it is with lighting of homes that Diwali is used to signify unto light — the light that empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds, that which brings us closer to the light of higher knowledge dispelling all ignorance. (Thanks Wikipedia)
Living in the US, we always acknowledged Diwali and celebrated with a puja, a religious celebration, and getting gifts from mom, but nothing quite as elaborate as I saw this year. First, I was told that this is Diwali season, which requires a whole new set of snack type foods in everyone’s homes – for when people come to visit. There’s dhai vada and kachori chaat and Indian sweets galore (I’m not a fan – way too sweet for me) – and if you want to know what these are – try your local hole in the wall Indian restaurant. While I love the food items – for me this meant that as I visited the houses of 4 of my uncles and 2 of my cousins, and one of my cousins’ in-laws’ homes (all within 3 ½ days) – I had these foods at each house.
In addition, on Friday afternoon – or the third day of Diwali, at the appropriate appointed hour (astrological timings are very important in Hinduism), I attended Laxmi puja (wearing my second sari of the week – more on that another time, but putting these on and wearing them is not for the faint of heart). Goddess Laxmi is the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity and is celebrated at the end of the old year/beginning of the new year – thanking her for her blessings in the past year and asking for those blessings to continue in the new year. It is said that the Goddess like cleanliness and hardworking people and will not come to visit and bless any home that is not clean or contains lazy people. (I wonder if she looks at clutter as unclean? And what happens if housecleaner refuses to come that day?)
In any event, we receive the blessings of God and that’s when the fireworks began. Literally. And they seemed to never end. Fireworks or Crackers, as they are known here, can be purchased in all forms – not just your simple sparklers (which are used here to light other firecrackers and not to be enjoyed on their own) and small rocket bombs. Oh no, we had things called bullet bombs, 600 beats firecrackers, flowerpedals (or large mountain of fire), chakra – which were spinning circle of fire and sparks, Chilli Bombs, Laxmi Bombs – well, you get the idea. There are no town or city sponsored fireworks, each individual household does their own – and apparently, there are no noise or pollution restrictions – so on Friday night, fireworks were ongoing straight in to the wee morning hours and on Saturday, the actual night of New Years – into Sunday morning – they never stopped. It was really cool to see various parts of the cityscape light up with fireworks on all sides, but I must admit the first time I heard a cracker go off, I ducked and looked around. I’m from Baltimore – and there, those sounds only come from gun shots!
In all, it was a nice to see my family and experience Diwali in a whole new way.
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