Going over my friend's blog about her Diwali deja vu, somehow struck a chord in me. I would'nt have probably written this, had it not been for her story. So Rama, here you go babe. My share of the story...
Diwali..The word brings on a flood of memories. I lived in a colony and diwali was a special time when the whole place jus LIT up. Lots of noise, people laughing, the sudden onrush in all the stores and standing in those mile long queues to get some thing billed, all the relatives piling up at home(who normally you never get to see..), the endless litres of oil parents get to empty on ur heads, the fights for the bathrooms at 3am in the morning,the sweets that stifle you, going from one friend's house to another giving sweets that were specially made for diwali, the fights to see who bursts the first cracker which had to be the longest and loudest one to wake up the whole colony, the pranks we used to play by throwing crackers at people(not intentionally..no offense !), the happiness that would emanate with the loud BOOM and people jumping like ten feet away from us and the list would go on and on. Diwali was a day when the whole family got together, my uncles and aunts and cousins and everyone would congregate at our house and spend the day. I remember the bouts of Dumbcharades that use to keep us rolling with laughter at these family get-togethers.
This diwali however was a complete contrast. Or should I say, a lot more silent. The day dawned with me waking up my mom(for a change !) when I got back from work. The oil works start and my bro called me all the way from the US and I got to wish my neice a happy diwali and wish with all my heart that the kid could feel the spirit of diwali that I felt when I was a kid of her age. But thats a wishful thought considering there are not even crackers there for her to burst. And then the usual chores of taking a bath, doing the necessary pooja for the festival and then watching Sun Tv. Around 10 30, unlike the rest of the diwali days, my mom had to leave to my uncle's house because she was in a bad state(healthwise) and couldnt manage the whole family for diwali(Good question..why dint I do it..Because..I dint wish to torture anyone by trying out my cooking on them on such a nice day). I had invited a coupla friends to come home, so we could burst crackers and the usual, but sadly, none of them could make it. Thats when it struck me, that for the first time in my life, I was alone on diwali. It dint feel like the special day it used to be !
So the only useful thing I did after that was, catch up on my sleep, which I did till 7am next morning. 16 hours straight. My diwali was over in my dreams and the crackers(which my bro sent out lovingly as a gift so my diwali wouldnt get ruined) stay untouched..Come to think of it, when I asked the rest of the crowd I knew, how their diwali was, and if they got to burst crackers and stuff, the answer I got was, "Yea diwali was ok..but crackers..naah..we are too old for that now !"
As the saying goes and as Rama quoted... If there is one permanent thing in life, it is CHANGE. And thats not just for life, or circumstances or festivals like these. It is for people as well. With the passage of time, we let the child in us die. We dont find the time or the inclination to do the things that we used to love doing as a kid. How many of us enjoy rain? Remember the days when we use to yearn to take a walk in the pouring rain. Where did that kid in us go? That is probably why festivals arent FESTIVALS anymore. They have become just another holiday !
Sadly, it is so true !
Diwali..The word brings on a flood of memories. I lived in a colony and diwali was a special time when the whole place jus LIT up. Lots of noise, people laughing, the sudden onrush in all the stores and standing in those mile long queues to get some thing billed, all the relatives piling up at home(who normally you never get to see..), the endless litres of oil parents get to empty on ur heads, the fights for the bathrooms at 3am in the morning,the sweets that stifle you, going from one friend's house to another giving sweets that were specially made for diwali, the fights to see who bursts the first cracker which had to be the longest and loudest one to wake up the whole colony, the pranks we used to play by throwing crackers at people(not intentionally..no offense !), the happiness that would emanate with the loud BOOM and people jumping like ten feet away from us and the list would go on and on. Diwali was a day when the whole family got together, my uncles and aunts and cousins and everyone would congregate at our house and spend the day. I remember the bouts of Dumbcharades that use to keep us rolling with laughter at these family get-togethers.
This diwali however was a complete contrast. Or should I say, a lot more silent. The day dawned with me waking up my mom(for a change !) when I got back from work. The oil works start and my bro called me all the way from the US and I got to wish my neice a happy diwali and wish with all my heart that the kid could feel the spirit of diwali that I felt when I was a kid of her age. But thats a wishful thought considering there are not even crackers there for her to burst. And then the usual chores of taking a bath, doing the necessary pooja for the festival and then watching Sun Tv. Around 10 30, unlike the rest of the diwali days, my mom had to leave to my uncle's house because she was in a bad state(healthwise) and couldnt manage the whole family for diwali(Good question..why dint I do it..Because..I dint wish to torture anyone by trying out my cooking on them on such a nice day). I had invited a coupla friends to come home, so we could burst crackers and the usual, but sadly, none of them could make it. Thats when it struck me, that for the first time in my life, I was alone on diwali. It dint feel like the special day it used to be !
So the only useful thing I did after that was, catch up on my sleep, which I did till 7am next morning. 16 hours straight. My diwali was over in my dreams and the crackers(which my bro sent out lovingly as a gift so my diwali wouldnt get ruined) stay untouched..Come to think of it, when I asked the rest of the crowd I knew, how their diwali was, and if they got to burst crackers and stuff, the answer I got was, "Yea diwali was ok..but crackers..naah..we are too old for that now !"
As the saying goes and as Rama quoted... If there is one permanent thing in life, it is CHANGE. And thats not just for life, or circumstances or festivals like these. It is for people as well. With the passage of time, we let the child in us die. We dont find the time or the inclination to do the things that we used to love doing as a kid. How many of us enjoy rain? Remember the days when we use to yearn to take a walk in the pouring rain. Where did that kid in us go? That is probably why festivals arent FESTIVALS anymore. They have become just another holiday !
Sadly, it is so true !
4 comments:
Only proves that both of us are in the same boat.And yeah we can get the boat rocking :)
I was tellling a close friend the exact same things you said about Diwali in our colony and the fun with our "big kudumbam"...and how I missed all that becuase I was in the US.
Diwali here is just SUN TV, oil and food. Truly sad that it was not that different in Chennai.
Here's to wishing that the next Diwali would be JOYOUS...with us going back to becoming "Kids"...Insha Allah.
Hey vethuvaettu,I get u.
People lose interest in something because they choose to.
People not only lose interest in it because they choose to..they lose interest because they think its uncool and childish..which was what I was trying to talk about !
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