Yesterday was an important one in the Subherwal household. It was Diwali!
A bit of context for those who need a bit of a brush up on Indian culture – Diwali is a celebration that falls on the 14th of November this year. The dates are usually determined by the position of the moon – but it usually falls between October and November and lasts for 5 days. The name essentially means ‘row of lights’ which is why it is also known as the festival of lights. Generally, the festival symbolises new beginnings - the victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Which is why I thought it was apt to write about it this week.
I ain’t going to lie, I had to do some research just to fill in the gaps of this festival. As kids, we were briefly aware of the context of why we celebrate Diwali, but I think it’s important to review how it all began as well as how it’s celebrated today.
Right so, it turns out Diwali signifies the return of Lord Rama to his people in Ayodhya after 14 years of exile during which he fought and won a battle against the demons and the demon king, Ravana. They also celebrate the day Mother Goddess Durga destroyed a demon called Mahisha, which is actually a really badass story that seems to get overridden…
There are many traditions that come with this festival. The most obvious would be the lighting of candles and divas in and around houses and shops, and public spaces being decorated with lights. It’s specifically a massive thing in India. We were there to celebrate it a while ago, I think it was 2007. I was quite young, but I remember a lot of it. I often reminisce upon that holiday as it was truly one of my favourites, and I have very fond memories of being there. We have some family that we stayed with whilst there, and I remember being so excited to celebrate Diwali whilst actually in India as it’s a huge thing there, similar to how we in Britain celebrate Christmas. We were living in our house in the village, and my uncle and dad had gone out and brought copious amounts of fireworks for the entire neighbourhood. This was probably to keep us kids occupied as there probably would’ve been some sort of accident eventually as we created a game that involved roof hopping from house to house and something to do with getting chased whilst 15ft in the air.
I remember just being in awe of it all. Everyone was joyous and happy, people dressed up in vibrant colours and it was an extremely warm night, so everyone was outside on the rooftops eating and having a drink with the neighbours. It probably wasn’t the best idea in retrospect, but my sister and I joined my cousins and some of the kids from the village in the courtyard and, because my cousin was a bit older, he was in charge of the fireworks. I remember lighting my first firework that night… And never again. Not till I was old enough to run away at a speed that was actually going to prevent me from potentially dying at least.
This year obviously we couldn’t celebrate as we usually would. It seems that this pandemic doesn’t ever want to leave. Alas, we still wined and dined ourselves into food comas, watched a few films and a bit of footie and absolutely shrouded the house full of lights, divas and candles. Seriously – they were on every surface, in every room. But it’s actually quite nice and comforting, especially in these winter days where it seems to be pitch black by 5pm. We definitely made the best of it this year.
Next year, hopefully we’ll be able to round up the family, get some fireworks in and have a feast that will fully paralyse us. I always look forward to eating some good food and spending some time with my family, especially as eating and drinking is all we seem to do when we’re together. Hopefully it’ll be a bit easier to eat ourselves to death as soon as Indian sweet shops and cake shops will be open; it seems they aren’t as essential as I thought…
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