The Diwali Nostalgia

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There are only a few celebrations which survive on my nostalgia list, and among them the strongest surely might be Onam for all Keralites, but the brightest has indeed been Diwali or Deepavali as we call it here. This festival of lights have always given me hope throughout my life with its message that levitated above all despair to push it down, and reign supreme on that day which was another wonderful one. All the photos shared in this post are from my collection of snaps related to 2011 Diwali celebrations at our apartments.

As we used to live in an apartment building, the celebrations always brought us together and kept us interested. We have now changed our home, and the need for such meaningful celebrations was disappearing quickly from the minds of our new generation as well as the older generation which cared less. But there was always that time when the celebrations where at full power, and among them were the days of Onam, Diwali, Christmas and New Year – they had a certain beauty about it.

Let the light go on (taken on my Sony DSC-W310)

Among these celebrations, Diwali always maintained its separate identity. It was celebrated without any hesitation and no discussion was needed about how it was going to go. Every other celebration needed planning, but this one was just done. It was a spontaneous thing which we kids and youngsters took over and celebrated without thinking a lot about it. We decorated the place and arranged the lights along with a few candles as a few of us took the opportunity to buy extra crackers and the fireworks.

The sweets were brought by a few people who volunteered, along with our apartment’s association which bought the most of the same as well as sponsored those fireworks and crackers which would be brought by a few of us. I have always been scared of the crackers and fireworks, but this was one particular moment of the year when I found that lost courage and stood there praying and believing that it would all be just awesome and nothing else on the festival of lights.

One of the better shots I have on a Diwali night (taken on my Sony DSC-W310)

There are not many things that we have loved more than the Deepavali sweets which we had on those days, and some of our friends from the other states contributed with even better ones. There would also be the speech about the triumph of good over evil along with how we should care for others society and related stuff from the elders, and also a few songs which contribute to the day. There would be little kids and the old people alike who would wish to sing and contribute to the occasion.

We always took the special care about those lamps which found the best of us, and taking snaps with the same remained a priceless activity. We kids and youngsters always took the opportunity to enjoy the same a little bit more with exchanging gifts and wandering around the Sivarathri Manappuram which would also have its own beautiful arrangement for the festival, and then finishing off the day with porottas and milk shake; in my case with that unavoidable tea. It was a celebration which brought us together.

And there remains the fireworks (taken on my Sony DSC-W310)

Those days are gone now though, with the shifting of the home, and those friends who have already been lost to the extremely busy and barbaric world, with three of them who passed away in the last few years, and they have left that void which can never be filled, especially Jean Mathew who succumbed to brain tumor last year. There have been no Diwali without him capturing the essence of the festival with his camera, and he will be missed, every time there is Diwali or any other festival anywhere. The story of his fight against the disease and his faith has always brought hope and belief in our lives like the festival of Diwali itself.

This blog post was written as a part of the Indiblogger Happy Hour Campaign on DIWALI – A TIME FOR FAMILY! See more at: https://www.gharwalidiwali.com/

TeNy

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