A Diwali Away From Home, Taught Me to Make Most of What I Have

Being away from home on Diwali is a sad experience, but only as sad as you make it to be.

A home brightly lighted up for Diwali.

(Photo: iStock)

“Maa, I won’t be coming home for Diwali, I’ll have to cancel my tickets.” The phone call had an awkward silence for a minute and then came a blank reply, “Okay”, her voice choked, I knew it wasn’t okay. The rest of the phone call went in telling her about my whereabouts but not even once did she touch upon ‘the topic’, clearly Maa was disappointed.

Looking out from my window at the huge skyscrapers and endless traffic in Mumbai on a Friday night I thought about how my life has changed. There are no more easy Diwali breaks, no more packing bags to go home for Diwali, no more buying Diwali gifts before heading back home and no counting down to the festival.

It has now become more about praying deep down to just get a leave on Diwali and if not a leave, at least a morning shift. I remember, the first time I went home for Diwali after I started working, I reached Shimla at 6 am, my father was already at the bus stop with his heartwarming smile (at times he makes an exception of reaching earlier than expected).

The entire town looked like a new bride, decorated with red, yellow, pink and green lights, colourful lanterns, genda phool and the desi ghee mithai spread its aroma in the entire town. The vendors were already on the streets booking their places to set up stalls to sell the Diwali essentials, terracotta diyas, wax diyas in different colours and shapes, colours and stencils to make rangoli, it just felt like Diwali.

As I entered home, there were piles of colourful gifts waiting to be unwrapped. Boxes of dry fruits, chocolates, ladoos and barfis on the dinning table, the house smelt of fresh paint and of course the evergreen welcoming smiles of my charged up family members ready to kick-off the festival of lights. Being home for Diwali is always BLISS.

When one has a sweet tooth, Diwali ki mithai is irresistible.  (Photo: iStock)

As I walked back from office, looking at the brightly lit shops, excited kids buying crackers, ladies buying diyas, colours for rangoli, rice lights, torans, idols of Ganesh and Laxmi, desi ghee mithai and colourful lanterns, there was excitement is in the air. But I felt heavy-hearted as I was thousands of kilometers away from home.

This Diwali there was no excitement of returning back from work because the house was as dull as ever - Maa wasn’t shouting on top of her voice “ghar saaf karlo, sab aayengey.” There were no colourful gifts waiting to be unwrapped, no boxes of cashew nuts, almonds and raisins to snack on, there were no colourful lights hanging in all possible corners of the house, there was no shubh laabh hanging on the top corner of the door, there were no relatives ringing bells time and again, and there were no ‘on demand’ dishes being cooked by Maa and Dadi, rather there was this tired and a lazy girl in a messy room, thinking of cooking the easiest option available.

I had always heard my cousins talking about how it felt being away from home on Diwali, this time I experienced it.

Diwali decor diyas, because this essential for Diwali.  (Photo: istock)

Lying on my bed in a dim lit room, with a bowl of oats in one hand I scrolled through Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat posts of people making their way home and posting pictures with friends and family. Though, the thought of being away from home was dreadful but then the thought of putting everything in place overpowered my laziness.

Struggling to find a pen and a notepad in the messy room, I decided to make a list of things which gave a feel of Diwali. The first thing I did was to clean my room, just the way Maa would have made me do it, dusting each and every part and arranging the things already in place. Next, I made a list of the Diwali essentials which included diyas, candles, colours, lanterns, torans and desi ghee mithai, cards and of course firecrackers (though I pledged not to burn any, but I couldn’t kill the child inside me).

I went out shopping with my Bengali roommate who was equally enthusiastic about the celebrations. We ticked off all the decors on the list and with happy faces and stomach full of desi ghee misthi (as my Bengali roommate calls it) we returned to our room to light our happy abode.

Though getting a chance to celebrate Diwali at home is always a blessing, for where else can you make a rangoli with Maa, listen to Dadi’s scoldings to sit for the Diwali puja and sing aarti along with her (which she expects us to know by heart) and wait for the puja to end so one can hog on all the delicious delicacies, light up the entire house and wear a traditional attire? But spending this Diwali trying to make my new place look as homely as possible was satisfactory enough to get the festival feel kick in.

For all those out there who are not going home on Diwali, don’t sit back - instead dress up, decorate your house, play cards, visit Diwali melas and most importantly add a lot of calories to your meal because Diwali is here. Happy Diwali!