Our funny Diwali

We are not your conventional family. Somehow I am lucky to be paired with a weird person like K who loves keeping to himself playing his computer games. We dont like socialising much. We are not part of expat groups and dont do stuff that are organised on a community scale. What we mostly tend to do is keep to ourselves and invite my Romanian friend over. Of course I start nearly 15 days prior to Diwali putting all the lights on cos I need Diwali. I need those lights around when the days are shorter. I need as much artificial brightness as possible :) 

 Since my friend is vegan and I want to make Indian stuff only, it is a brain storming session prior to her visit. Also I feel the urge to showcase the wonderful cuisines that are from our lovely country instead of presenting something run of the mill which she can probably have in a random restaurant. This time we went with the theme of street food. We made pani puris and stuffed kachodis with potato curry. It was quite a cool experience to make them since these are also not stuff we make on a daily basis. The day itself was jam packed with cooking. There was a ton of stuff to make and taste. We bought the puris for the pani puri from the shop. We had to taste to make the taste of the filling and water as close to the real deal as possible. During the process of ‘tasting’ we ended up finishing 2 lots of the puris. So much so that K had to make another trip to the shops to get the required amount. It was huge fun though having this rendition of street food. This is what Diwali brings, the letting loose, just the joy of doing something that is not routine.

Once my friend was over, we had a good time just chatting about everything under the sun. Her husband and her quite enjoyed the food. With this awesome company, the meaningful conversations and positive feeling of the festive season, we celebrated Diwali a week ahead of Diwali :)

A different Dussera

 We are not the conventional family. We don't do most festivals in the conventional way. We don't have a prayer room. For occasions the children make cards wishing the Gods a happy birthday and we cook some special food. Et voila!

Navratri /Durga puja is quite popular where my husband and I hail from. But we don't celebrate it with  much  furore. The local temple is too crowded and showy for our liking. But every year something special tends to happen around this time of the year.

This year K ended up eating some cakes meant for the kids. ( A grave offence indeed!)😃 As compensation he promised cakes from a bakery which makes the most amazing fresh cream cakes. The bakery boasts of some fabulous Indian sweets too. And K couldn't resist the temptation to buy some. It was  brilliant  to have the sweets along with some samosas which got devoured in a jiff. A wonderful, unexpected Durga puja.

Wishing you all the very best of festive times 🤗

The Diwali the year Covid hit

 2020 will be an unforgettable year for Covid-19. This year a lot of things ground to a halt and changed beyond recognition. A part of me definitely enjoyed the lack of social activities. I also liked the break from kids activities. Weekends were a bit more rested and so were weekday evenings. With the weather getting colder, no one minds the extra time at home.

But like many well meaning people, I have also succumbed to the YouTube feeds of various chefs and cooking channels :) I have become a bit of a "cook from scratch" lady who makes her own paneer, Nutella and peanut butter. Laddoos and pies and tarts are always available in our fridge. But Diwali is extra special isnt it. So I had to up the ante. :) 

A week on Diwali, as the YouTube videos got more manic around the festival, so did my enthusiasm. So over the week K and I consumed 3 batches of laddoos - coconut, wheat flour and gram flour ones. Along with some sev and murukku. The day was reserved for chole puri. I had also prepared some organic colours for the kids to make rangoli. 

Come the D-day, K and I started up with some hearty conversations followed by phone calls to Chennai home. It was a Saturday and because of the second lockdown, we didnt have the usual swimming class in the morning. Which just made it all the more wonderful :) A light breakfast done, the kids were off to playing while I got on with cooking. The girls are EXTREMELY fussy eaters. I was sure the dish's reception could go either ways. But! Once it was ready, the girls loved it! Chiyaa who is the fussier one, said "Mummy this is awesome" I could faint! The kids had their food with all enthusiasm and were even more enthused to make the rangoli. Food done, they got on with it. They made planets are nebulas :D but who cares as long as they are having fun! 

I felt a tad guilty that the kids did not have any dessert. So I offered if we could bake a cake. Now I cannot bake to save my life. No matter which recipe I follow "easiest recipe to moist chocolate cake" or "the best cake recipe you need" - they all are an utter failure for me :( Some are a mild success. And we eat all of them however the outcome. So uttering my prayers to the almighty, I started on with the ingredients for a cake with the kids. The kids definitely need a ganache, else its "too plain". Now that was easy. For once I had the raw materials for that. The cake came out "biscuity", but chocolate ganache saved the day! The kids ate!! Hurray!!

Evening as K was munching on some more savoury snacks, Pumpki came towards him and tried one. She loved it. I nudged Chiyaa to give one a go as well. She said "Mummy can you make lots more of this?" OMG! Honestly I could not have asked for anything more on this auspicious day. This has really revved up the already revved up cook inside me :D 

Sunday I could definitely feel the blues of the most awesome festival being over. We felt loaded with all the food over the past week. But we did need some "simple food" :P because the body needs energy you see. Simple food of rice, sambar, cabbage curry and brinjal curry with yoghurt turned out to be most appetising. Chiyaa and Pumpki got busy with some school work and I had to steel myself to the coming Monday  :( 

A wonderful Diwali was definitely done!

A dull and borderline depressing Diwali

Last year Diwali came and went without a fizz. And this year it seems a bit more lacklustre. 

First things first, our family is not together. K is already in Leeds. So I don't feel the enthusiasm to gear up for anything. Papa is also all by himself in bbsr. My sis has not been able to make the trip home this year and mummy is here. So he will have a lonesome  Diwali. 

Secondly K was here last weekend. In his enthusiasm to contribute towards the packing get he has packed the lights and the batteries. I do not have the patience to rummage through the boxes and find out which one might contain them. And what is Diwali without the brilliant lights? Last year in fact to have a more vibrant atmosphere I had bought a lot more lights. Alas they all lie packed up in a box. 

Thirdly I am dreading the changes that are on my way. Chiyaa 's change of school. Pumpki's start of day care. Mummy leaving for India within a few days of it will end up in me being in a strange set up with the cold dark months stretching ahead. 

To top it my college friend in Leeds will be ironically coming to Ipswich. We shared a good bond and it feels good to share with someone who has known you previously. But it's as if the Gods don't want us to be together. 

I have nothing to look forward to this year. Nothing that gives any sense of joy this Diwali. My natural optimistic self seems to have taken a beating. 

I am so sad at leaving Ipswich. I feel a tug of pain as I cancel payments for Chiyaa 's classes or slowly tell everyone that we are leaving. I am the shy sorts so rather than broadcasting I tell people of the topic comes up. I wish I could be open and tell everyone and say a good formal goodbye.  Today one of Chiyaa 's class mates joined her karate class and he said to his mum that Chiyaa is going to a different school. His mum wished us luck. But he remarked ' I am going to be so upset'. I felt too bad.  I will miss the long journeys to Leeds which initially seemed daunting but then became fun and an opportunity to devour books. I will miss the playarea just near our apartment which gave so many fun filled hours to the kids. I will miss the riverside, the shrieks of gulls which sound like human cries, the foot over bridge across the river. I will miss every bit of the place which I scoured quite a lot. 

The silver lining in this is a child's mind. Chiyaa and her attitude gives me hope. She is counting days to go to Leeds. She said she would be sad at leaving her friends. She is concerned that she will forget her friends. But she looks forward to going to Leeds, making new friends, and seeing the change. You make me proud kid. You give me hope. Hope that things will settle down. Hope that things don't be so bad. Hope that things will in fact get better. Hope that all will be well.  And hope is a good thing.

Diwali waali post

Well, this is becoming a ritual now, much like my favorite festival :) 

This Diwali was so ultimately special - being the first with the lil one! I could not feel the approach of the festival so much this year, cos I was a bit tied down by chores involving the baby. Since we returned from a vacation in India just 10 days back, I was in the re-alignment phase as well. But things kick started on Saturday when K announced the elaborate menu being prepared at sil's house. That made me realize that Diwali was just round the corner. I had the usual rangoli and diya designs planned. Yea if you may remember I nearly set the house on fire last year :P So this year lights were strictly prohibited. But me being the stubborn one sneakily got some candles from the local store. (Chance lene main kya harz hai ;) )

I tried my hand at making besan barfi and kalakand. They came out pretty good. Condensed milk ho to life jhingalala :) We planned to go to an Indian restaurant for dinner. We had expected Chiyaa to sit and eat with us and had gone all prepared with baby food. But she chose to sleep off! You can never anticipate a baby's moves! She happily slept off on K's shoulder. Now I have become an expert 'feeder'. Making Chiyaa swallow portions of gooey fruits, vegetables and what have you, I embarked on the mission to feed K as well while he kept the kiddo. It was good fun and way easier :) 

Dinner done, Diwali over  :(  Pictures remain :) 

Besan Barfi

Kalakand

Decoration near deities

On the floor which I guarded fiercely from Chiyaa :) Today I let her destroy it and boy was she happy :)

With the ahem safer candles

Totally totally safeeeee this time :) 

Hope you all had a great Diwali too!!

Ek aur Diwali Khatam

And I am waiting for a next one already.

No matter where I am festivals pep me up. I am at my chirpiest best and can somehow feel the gigantic vibes of good will allll around. Call me silly. But thats just me :)

This Diwali was no less special. The sun shone splendidly! In October having the sun shimmer down tireless in the land where the sun never rises is awesome. The morning was spent in quickly catching up with friends. K wanted to whet his feeling of nostalgia and asked a couple of friends to go closer to the bursting crackers so that he could savor the sound of them. He was in no mood to work and said he had spent most of the day making calls or chatting with colleagues. The British counterparts did bring up some sweets and savories which were matched by the Indian colleagues. There was a lot of munching and grubbing going on which added to the festive splendor. 

Amma was in full throttle and had started making sweets 2 days prior to the event. There was besan barfi and coconut laddus to be savored. She also make some kheer on the day of Diwali. I had plans for kachori and chole for dinner. Once K was back, he got on with helping me in getting stuffs in order and lighting up the candles as Amma made a trip to the local temple with some neighbors. 

I had called over a colleague of K's who has turned out to be a bit pally with me. Once she came over, she too helped me with bits of the cooking. While we were engrossed in dishing out the food, the heat of the candles and the cooking did make the fire alarm go off. But after some time when I suddenly turned to see the diyas, I noticed one of them burning with a big flame. And within the blink of an eye, it spluttered and another one started burning with a big flame. K was playing some computer games, and I thought it might be better to handle the situation silently. And I poured some water over the candles. It resulted in a conflagration! (I read up later in the internet that one should not try to extinguish a wax fire with water. And more over, the flames were getting bigger because there was some melted wax too which was catching fire) Now this caught the attention of K even though he was engrossed in a game. He came rushing and doused the fire by putting a thick towel over the candles. Then he gave me a look - which said - Woman you had nearly set the house on fire. Since we had a guest at hand, he spared me the sound hearing which came lashing down as soon as she stepped out. The judgement was passed that there would be no candles going forward and I either had to manage with some sort of electrical lighting or ask some one from India to get some authentic diyas for any occasion I wanted to light up things. All said and done we had a happy and safe Diwali. Wish everyone else too had an amazing time! 

The festival of lights done for this year, waiting for another gorgeous one! 

The thing about Diwali

There is something about Diwali (and Dussera too). It does something to the atmosphere around. The changes are so palpable. The weather takes a turn towards chillness. People are nostalgic about home, people take vacations no matter what ( my sisters colleagues have no leaves since they are in training period and they don't earn very high bucks either. But just for one day to be with family on Diwali, they have taken flights spending nearly half their monthly salaries and gone home! )It makes you want to be with your loved ones. It makes people scoot from office early. It makes you feel like cooking something special in spite of having slogged at office for good 9 hours. Everyone wishing the other person a happy Diwali just spreads the cheer magically. I am not sure if thats the case with everyone, but I feel so festively happy! As they say we should search for excuses to be happy - I do so oh so often.

Last year Diwali was my first one after marriage. The first Diwali after wedding is a very highlighted affair in TamilNadu. But I must confess, it started off on a very bad note for the lack of education. I had no idea, how differently it is celebrated in TamilNadu compared to back at my paternal place in Orissa. At my parents place, the whole day is spent in decorating the house and keeping things ready for the big bang in the evening. We spend the day fishing for diyas, counting the number of them still preserved from the past years, asking dad to scurry and get some more, deciding on which design to put the diyas and the rangoli in, helping mom in cooking the yummiliciuos breakfast, lunch and dinner. I always remember the night before Diwali we all deciding on the elaborate menus. We sisters were never of much help, but we used to keep talking around the kitchen and generally giving my mom company while she sweated over the dishes. Food and talks in the morning and evening would be spent on the veranda and terrace placing the diyas and then it would be cracker time! See...... this is what Diwali does.... makes you feel so nostalgic.

But last year, since I was not aware, how Diwali starts in TamilNadu before the break of dawn, there was a bit of upset emotions at home. And morning does show the day, so there was nothing to write home about for the entire day. There were forced smiles and uneasy reconciliations. But then, people learn. Last year I was a newbie, still adjusting to the symphony played here( I had read this analogy in some other blog and borrowed it :) ) This year, I was ready with my own composition apart from being ready to do my part for the original orchestra. I took my own time and space and got ready in the morning. We were invited for lunch to K's aunt's house. On the way back, I bought diyas (its not a tradition out here to light diyas on Diwali - they do so on another day called Karthik Deepam I guess ) . But then, a little extra celebration does not hurt at all. So all armed with the diyas and rangoli colors, I set forth in the evening to celebrate Diwali as I know it. Made some patterns on the balcony and the front door and places those lovely diyas. It is really heartening to see the diyas fight out the winds and stay aflame - it fills me with a very positive vibe. The words tamasoma jyotir gamaya (from darkness let us move to light) subconsciously keeps reverberating in my mind. The icing on the cake came when one neighbor aunty came and said "Perfect blend of north and south, only this apartment is lighted with all these small diyas and looks very cute from a distance." I had an ear to ear grin :D

Decorations done, I caught up with friends and family. What if we are not together, we should use technology to the max. For that matter since early morning K and I were making lots of calls. Evening I spoke with some very close friends and my mom and sister for hours on end. Dinner was parathas with curd and I made some extra coconut laddus to carry to office. (Diwali makes you put in that extra effort right?)An early end to the spirited day gave me the most rested feeling. Next year, I plan a bigger better evening. More sweets, more intricate designs, more savories, more time with my family.

It was a good Diwali, touchwood. And people I cared for had a good Diwali. I was concerned for a friend of mine who was all alone. But then, when I called and checked up with her, she had surprise company. My sister who was away from home for the first time, was also doing fine. The world does hold a mirror to ones own thoughts.

I hope all my readers had a wonderful Diwali. And here s wishing you all lots of good times ahead.