Diwali, the festival of lights. Why do we celebrate it? It is said that Lord Rama had defeated the Evil King Ravana and returned back after 14 years along with Lord Lakshmana & Lordess Sita. He was welcomed by his people with a huge celebration and because it was an incredible won by Lord Rama, people had lightened lamps in the entire city.
Diwali basically means, “Deepawali”. It is all about praising, respecting & remembering Lord Rama by lighting Diyas (small lamps) in our homes. However, we also worship Goddess Lakshmi for keeping us full of health & wealth throughout our lives and keeping us out of poverty.
Well, that was about why Diwali is celebrated. Now, let’s just begin with the greeting that says “Happy Diwali” which is not that big a deal but instead of that why don’t we greet with “Shubh Dipawali”? Don’t you think!
We’ll answer to our question ourself. This is what has changed in the years. We have become so glamorize about wishing someone about the festival.
Well, preparation starts for Deepawali a month before. Mom is the busiest and excited person at this festival. Why she shouldn’t be?
After all, she is waiting for her son/daughter who could be studying away from home, a working IT professional or an ARMY person. She cleans every nook and corner of the house. She prepares delicious dishes for me including Karanji, Chakli, Chiwada, Laddoos, Shakkarpala and many more.
You see, A LOT has changed in past decades. There were no crackers! Seriously, if you really want to damage your lungs so bad then you better just smoke 5 cartons on cigarettes in a row. But to be fair, one thing that we all are still following and have not changed at all is the Faral which is actually Diwali snack that includes Karanji, Chakli, Chiwada, Laddoos, Shakkarpala and also very very rare, Soanpapdi.
Although if we dig into it then we’ll come to know about the changes that are made by people. Like, for example, Rangoli! Beautiful art that is drawn using different types of coloured sand/ powder. Earlier, people used to make Rangoli with their hands no matter how massive it was. Yes, we do have amazing rangoli artists today but we also have the Rangoli impressions printed on a sieve sheet, which saves a lot of time and gets you compliments!
What more? Lanterns! I personally love lanterns, although, they are just the updated version of Diyas, except you have to hang the lanterns in your balcony.
And talk about outfits. Luckily, that’s one thing, people cannot complain about. The Old & The New, both generations have been embracing the Diwali outfits since forever.
Do you know what we all can do to make Diwali special for everybody? Buy sweets & clothes to the ones who really need them and who will appreciate them the most! Also, make some resolutions more like take responsibilities of not polluting what we inhale. On a serious note, the noise and the smoke created by the crackers severely cause traumas and sickness to animals. And as adults, I hope we can at least save the kids from getting burnt.
And most importantly, don’t forget to take the blessings from the elders, that really counts. From varieties of snacks to extravagant gifts, from giving money to the children as blessings to playing cards and win all of your friend’s money, from distributing sweets to forwarding Diwali wishes on WhatsApp. No matter, how much things change and what would be the upcoming additions & rituals to this beautiful celebration, one thing won’t change at all. And that is, Diwali fills our homes with joy brings us all together.
