I did that last couple years. I celebrated Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights that is celebrated by lighting many lamps to dispelling darkness also from our lives, hearts and minds. We pray for wellness and prosperity. We share this excitement and love with family and friends wishing them well.
The last two years we celebrated celebrated Diwali in a foreign country. It was of course different, we bought lamps and decorations and even crackers from the huge excitement that starts in end of October for Christmas in December. To make up missing friends and family back home, Indian families got together in small or large groups attempting to create the atmosphere back home and share with each other the spirit of Diwali. Having non-Indian friends over became a good opportunity to building new relationships and sharing the richness of the festival to others.
This year, of course isn’t normal for anybody in anyway ,how could we have a normal Diwali? Because the coronavirus infections were soaring exponentially in France the government suddenly decided to impose a lockdown with less notice as 24 hours. The conditions included absolutely no socializing with family or friends, shutting down of all restaurants and non essential shopping. In fact, it turned out that while certain shops were open for essential goods all the nonessential items were cordoned off and not available for purchase. This time the Diwali shopping here included a visit to the stores hoping to find something that could beautify our Diwali and bring the festive spirit only to see that it was not available for purchase.No new decorations, no flowers for the puja, no new additions in the house . We were lucky to find sparkles that still helped us keep up with the tradition of Diwali.
We finally had a nice, little, quiet, yet a beautiful festival. we managed to do the Rangoli, the decorations, the sweet dish ( I didn’t buy haldirams gulab jamuns as usual, made Kaju Peda instead, well it stared as Kaju Barfi) at home, a special dinner, we had flowers from the garden and some lights to decorate the prayer place. Oh! we needed so little from outside. Finally with a bit of disappointment, a bit more nostalgia and a strong festive fervour, another Diwali well spent. However I am still asking myself if I would want to celebrate Diwali in the spirit of Christmas?
No comments:
Post a Comment