Diwali at Home

It has been a while since I wrote about how I spent a particular day. For me it is also worth writing about because ever since I have landed in Delhi (been three days), I have done nothing.

I stepped out to get my mehendi routine taken care of. Lajpat Nagar like every year! I always used to pay 50 bucks for both hands. This time I had to bargain to bring them down to Rs 70 for the same.
My yellow bag saw light of day after weeks today! We were both happy. :-)

At home, the mithai has found a taker. I am enjoying laddoos, and pethas, and barfis, etc in turns. :D

I also googled for a new rangoli design for tomorrow. I think I have found something, but it might need pre-testing.

In the evening, when Bhai got back home, we fixed the lights. I love the little yellow bulbs.
Then, he and I stepped out to buy the diyas. It's this road in Sarojini Nagar where sellers are lined up with the prettiest Diwali stuff made of mud. There was great variety in the style that diyas were made. But we are traditional in thought and taste. We bought the conventional-looking ones. (A handful of white diyas only to satisfy the keeda. :P) We bought more stuff than was needed for home. Such behaviour is one of the few common things (the second mentioned here) between the two of us.

Like I mentioned recently, the P word takes priority. I had been strategically doing all my work since afternoon such that I wouldn't have to wash my hands (in order to allow the mehendi to get darker). Water is known to be a killer in the process. But as the night came, so did my enemy. :-/ So now I am just hoping that the morning does not disappoint me with the colour. Mehendi in bad colour is one of the worst-looking things on earth!

Tomorrow morning also has the annual Diwali havan scheduled. It demands that I sleep early tonight. Have extended family stuff planned for the rest of the day as well. :-)

Aside: This would have been anniversary time.

P.S. - I recently got mom to invest in a green silk saree for me. I can't wait for an occasion to wear it! :D

No Updates

The fall internship is due in a month's time. Somebody damn the systems (or the lack of them) because I still do not know where I will be going. And I am f r e a k i n g out! I know it is the beginning of the horror called final placements, but it kills. :-/

There isn't really much happening these days for me to update this space. Except that I have no money on my phone. Or no hot water in the shower. Or no peaceful sleep in the nights. Except that I suddenly lost weight and fell sick. Except that I never thought I was capable of choosing to paint over writing for a culture studies assignment. That I have not read the newspaper in more than a week.
But I have bought a hot cushion cover with lotsa colours in it. Fuchsia too. :D

But one of the many things that are on my mind is the Delhi Diwali air. I cannot wait for a whiff of that smell. I know there's a month left for this too and I'm probably living ahead of times (no pun intended) but I am excited about it. I am! See.. there still are things that excite me!

Last year, I was busy winding up assignments, celebrating an anniversary, and gearing up for my first tryst with an NGO.
The year before that, I was busy falling in love, and healthily losing weight. Mad CAT stuff was happening on top of it all.
And the year before that, Pa was going for a surgery, I broke my back, and I was at the threshold of some losses too.
The year before that? I only remember my rangoli. I make one every year. Bad back or not.. the floral rangoli has become a religion. I love doing it. Every single year.

Yes, all the girly stuff is very much there.

I think this is about it for now. I shall let you know the moment somebody decides to give me temporary employment.

Festive Moods II

This time I don't even know where to begin. It was my happiest Diwali ever. It was literally brought in with tears of happiness, and I certainly could not have asked for anything more.
The day started very early as usual. Had the customary havan which was wrapped by 7:00 a.m. After that, I went out for a little walk in the beautiful weather. Also spent some time on the terrace. Came back for a little nap, and even before I'd had breakfast, I was out again. This time (happily) forcefully shoved into a car by cousins who had plans of visiting all other cousins in the city. I realised late at night that even sitting in the backseat killed me! It's not funny travelling from south Delhi to Rohini to Gurgaon and back and still not have stiff legs. But of course, it was fun without a doubt. Although, the funniest thing was what I did on my way back home. I think I used to do that when I was 5 years old. Car-tree-sardar uncle-poster-cycle pe people-hero heralal-red light-etc-etc.....spelling out everything that I could see from my window seat. It felt incredible!! :D
Got back a little late, so I had to find a way of making a rangoli that won't take much time. My pattern was the simplest ever, but filling it all with petals is always a painstakingly long task. Late night also made me realise that I killed my already dead legs even more by balancing all my weight weirdly for about an hour. I can't feel my legs right now. Anyway, Ruhi did help a lot with the rangoli. She also came up with the cheesiest senti dialogues just because she's leaving Delhi in three days. Bloody!
Just caught up with a few more friends after that, and sensibly got back inside my home by 10:00 p.m. since the pollution was getting crazy.

So, lots of phone calls, even more SMSs, loads of mithai, colours, lights, smiles, hugs, pictures, fun....and I had the perfect Diwali. :-)
I hope, so did you.

Festive Moods

I had been wondering why I couldn't feel the Diwali air around me. How I didn't even realise that my favourite festival was so close. The deal is that there is a mismatch between the weather and the festive days this time. The weather that Delhi usually sees around Diwali came and went in the early days of October. Somehow I'm glad that happened. Like I always keep saying, I am always nicely taken care of. I didn't, but somebody else knew that this year that air won't make me happy. I didn't deserve to be unhappy during some of the best days of the year. And I am not. I am very very happy today. I've always lived in this city but have never seen rain a day before Diwali. Today I did. And I want to believe that I know why the rain gods were happy. It's my November rain. The one I silently thought about a week ago. For once, I didn't find it irksome. Loved it. :-)
The weather's just incredible right now! I think it's the official indicator for winters to begin, and also for mosquitoes to go climb a pole.

I also continued my little Diwali tradition of getting mehandi on my hands. I did not have company this time, but being my stubborn self, there was no place other than Lajpat Nagar that I was going to get it from. So I went. Alone. It was a bit of a struggle handling my bag, the hair falling in my eyes, looking for an auto, and so forth....but I managed to get back home without smudging even a bit of it. Aren't you proud of me already? :D

One of the boxes of of mithai that have come home today have the funniest form of kaju barfi in them. They're shaped like different fruits. Amazing pieces of art! :-)

I think I'm going out with Pa for some little shopping for the house right now. So I shall be back. Maybe write more about Diwali. In case I don't, HAPPY DIWALI!!! :-)

It feels good to move around with a content smile on the face. :-)