Saturday, November 01, 2008

High Spirits

There are these specific days of the year..when no matter what....but ones spirits remain high..nothing can take the smile off from ones face..the enthusiasm n joy around is so contagious..that everyone has no choice but to be Happy.Diwali is one such day for me. I remain in high spirits weeks before n after the festival. The enthusiasm drops a little only to get perked up again a few weeks before Christmas! Fun n delightful times…this time of the year!

When we were kids Mom, Dad, Sis n me would go shopping about a month in advance. Commercial Street would be more crowded than usual n 2 days or so before Diwali the street would be lit up with lights looking more beautiful than ever. The lights would stay up until New Year..making us want to visit the street n therefore shop for some li’l thing every weekend!

As kids, Sis n I with a few other friends would prepare a dance for the adults. So the rehearsals for that would begin too. My mom would make so many delicacies .It would indeed become busy times with so much to look forward to. Before D-day, we would take out our new clothes, the matching jewellery etc and lay them out ready. We would start decorating the house and when we grew a li’l bigger Sis n I would spend hours drawing the huge Rangoli in front of our home. On D-day we would wake up early morning, have our mom put haldi on our legs n hands, have the special headbath, n try to be the 1st one to burst the cracker. Prats has explained the tradition very well.

As we grew up the dance routines and bursting crackers stopped..but not the enthusiasm for dressing up nor eatin the yummy stuff mom made.

Last year was my first Diwali in the US. Before Diwali I was kind-of worried about not celebratin it the way we did in India. I made sure we got new clothes and I thought why not have some people over for dinner and planned a game-night. That was the first time V n I had more than 3 people come over to our home! We had 8 guests n that nite was a hit! We enjoyed cooking, decorating the house and getting dressed ourselves. We were satisfied! N so I decided to make it a tradition..that every year we’ll host a Diwali party!

In August we moved to Vermont and in a short span of time we have made several friends. As Diwali approached I didn’t want to give up the tradition and so we started making the list for number of invitees. The list had over 30 adults. It made us nervous but we decided that we’ll have a pot-luck n then should be able to work things out. It took us over a week to get our li’l home ready for the party. A tiring but fun week.!n finally last Saturday we did have our Diwali party. We played Bingo n sang some songs. n all turned out well. All our guests seem to have enjoyed n as a host I moved from wearin a salwar to drapin a saree. It was a fun evening…n I feel so confident that I can’t wait until next Diwali to host our next big party

Now u tell me..which time of the year can you not help being in high spirits and u feel like ur in La-La-Land?

27 comments:

Vinz said...

Diwali...New Year..Christmas...Onam(For me:am a keralite basically)...Dusshera...

What life if no festivals..?

:)

rayshma said...

that's so kewl pavs!! someday, i shall attend ur diwali party! :)

Preethi said...

Happy diwali... lovely tradition you guys have started.. if only I lived in Vermont ;)

Gunjan Aylawadi said...

u are just like me or rather i am just like u!!
there is no way i will not celebrate with lots of ppl around on any festival!!
but i guess christmas is one time which gives me a real high :D

broca's area said...

during my birthday and diwali!...:D

Rho Tau GWIS said...

Christmas!!! I'm sure you know how it is here...similar to what Diwali is like in India. I am in high-spirits all through the month of December...the last few days leading up to Christmas are the best for me!!

BTW, I AM going to India Pavi!!! Dec 28- Jan 15...after 12 years!!!!

cm chap said...

Ah... gr8 you enjoyed. But see..u didnt invite me.. :(

I sincerely follow the bachelor rule of..Never miss a chance for home made Indian food. :)

burf said...

exactly

even till now in this middle age i have year after year looked forward to buying new clothes on diwali

and getting money from mom pop on the day

surely diwali is the best time of the year. alto it was a little disappointing this year to not see as much crowds in markets, be it lajpat nagar, chandani chowk or here in noida

Satish Bolla said...

hmm, for me they r raksha-bandhan, diwali, pongal, dussera n ugadi. i feel like flying back home in the next flight in those days

ceedy said...

I waited to comment cause finally today I am in HIGH SPIRITS...and am sure you n v are too!!!!

And you know why...even if we are not real parts of this country - YES WE CAN!!!!!

Be back after the break

Mansi Trivedi said...

First of all, great layout
secondly, very honest thoughts...
and happy diwali! belated! :)

Anonymous said...

Every year first week of october.... the military school reunion.... last year I even lost alll my luggage on the sation...but well... as u say sumtimes... nothing can take the smile away...

samby

Pavi!!!! said...

@Vinz: I agree!there is no life w/o celebrations! n festivals is the xcuse:)

@Ray Ray : Why wait for Diwali party...tell me hen ur cmg over n i ll throw a party at home :)

@Preeti:Thanks:)n naah..u dont have to live here to attend the party...u simpley have to be here at that time!

Pavi!!!! said...

@Gunj: Ya I get high arnd Dusshera n the feelin lasts until New Year!

@Broc:Ya i too looouve my "Happy B'day"!

@CG:Wooow! India after 12 yrs!we shld catch up on chat:)
n yes..chrismtas fever is contagious here..Last year we bought a Christmas tree n decorated it n stuff..will be doin the same this yr!

Pavi!!!! said...

@CM Chap: i didn't know u wld be willing to travel:( sorry, of crse ur invited!

@Burf: u are at delhi..Diwali is the best in that city!
n no crowds coz of bomb attacks n stuff kya?:( very sad!

@Satish:ya being away frm home..makes one more fond of festivals.Do u celebrate them in ur own way anywez?

Pavi!!!! said...

@Ceedy: Gr8 timing!worth the wait!I guess all ofo the world was waiting for this one..Isn't this such a global moment of joy!
YES..V n I are very happy that WE DID :)
Have a safe n fun trip!

@mansi: B'lated Happy Diwali to u too. Thanks much for the compliments:)

Pavi!!!! said...

@Samby: Are u the same samby:)if yes, welcome back! So where have u been hiding away all these months?

burf said...

pavi - yea, am a delhite, to the core :D

yea, somehow it seem that the people had the blasts at the back of their minds. it was just a little better on dhanteras

Solitaire said...

Sounds a lot like me and my unlimited enthusiasm!!

I feel like I am in la-la-land on my birthday though!

Mush said...

Hey Pav.. good to know u had fun during Diwali. :) Got to read your blog today (and update mine too :P) as been busy with loads of things

Pri said...

for me its during chathurthi....the obvious reasons being 'ganeshji' being my fav and ofcourse the 'modaks' ;)

Pavi!!!! said...

@Sol: yes, i think we share the same kinda enthusiasm for certain things :) n yaye..ur Happy B'day is coming sooooon!

@Mush:Thnx mush..will visit ya soon.

@Pri: yes being in Mumbai during Ganesh Chaturthi..hardly leaves u other options..hai na :)

Shachi said...

Joyful post - keep the tradition going :) I feel like that Nov-Dec since most birthdays in my family are in these months along with all the festivals!!!!

Lena said...

:)
somehow my spirits dont depend on holidays, festivals etc.. maybe thats the state of mind which depends on the current situation in life and people around and not some events.

Prats said...

hey...sorry, was just not able to visit your blog for a while...been caught up with things.
How was the celebrations??? I'm sure it'd have been fun. I love having people over...there's so much joy ins eeing friends and then joining together to celebrate a festival...

Ekta said...

i agree..diwali always has grt moments..
but for some reason i dont have any one such day in a yr that I always necessarily feel happy on?

Pavi!!!! said...

@Shachi : wooow..all B'days with festival..must be awesomely fun times!

@Lena: oh yea..some people can make every moment a joy..hope ur surrounded by such ppl all the time:)

@Prats : No problem. n yes we had a blast!was laods of fun n worth all the hard work:)

@Ekta: Mabbe ur like lena..n derive ur happiness from other things!