Home is best
Spirit of Diwali
The writer reflects about spending Diwali with her son and his family in the US. She said regrettably, there was no fireworks to end the evening. "This is where I felt a tinge of sadness because my grandchildren do not know the joy of hearing the patakas go bang, see fountains of colour or experience the joy of finding shoorbans the day after Diwali."
Image: Ann Perkas/pexels.com
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I HOPE that all of our Hindu readers had a lovely Diwali. I celebrated with my son and his American family in Los Angeles. Although I had a wonderful time, I must confess that celebrating at home in Durban is the best.
Although LA has such a diverse population, and the Mayor has declared it a State holiday, very few people really get into the spirit of Diwali.
There is more excitement about Halloween and almost every house has got decorations and pumpkins on their front lawn.
Celebrating Diwali in a foreign country is not easy. I literally carried spices, sweetmeat ingredients, diyas and outfits across the sea.
I visited the Durban Diwali Festival as well as the different India Fair’s to get items to ensure I could capture the essence of Diwali away from home.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m really big on celebrating the Festival of Lights and go all out. I enjoyed the spirit at the Durban Diwali Festival.
The cultural items and prayers resonated with me. However, the shopping experience at the so-called “India Fairs”was exhausting to say the least.
Held under tents with uneven floors and poor ventilation, it is actually a disaster waiting to happen. I shudder to think what would happen if a fire was to break out.
Traders were shouting out from their stalls offering “bargains”.
The fun part is to actually engage in the bargaining. The customer asks the price, the trader mentions a price, the customer thinks about it, then walks away, only for the trader to drop the price in an attempt to hook the customer.
The art of bargaining is a skill which I do not possess.
I’m sure I paid way more than the 300% mark up.
But then again, I guess the trader has to make a living too.
Anyway, back to my celebration in Los Angeles.
My son invited his American in-laws to join us for a traditional Indian dinner. Naturally, I was the chef for the day. He and his wife possess one large pasta pot, 2 medium and 2 small saucepans, and 2 medium frying pans.
Cooking for 10 people with such a limited array of pots was a challenge. I literally had to cook in stages.
It was a case of cook, decant, wash the pot on repeat!!
I also had to be mindful of the amount of spices I used as the American palate is not used to tithta food.
Anyway, the dinner was a success, and the American in-laws raved about the beans and puri and vegetable breyani.
I had a quiet chuckle as they all used cutlery to eat the beans and puri and one guest filled sambals and raita into a puri like a taco! I have deep respect for my guests.
They joined in the evening prayer and lit diyas with lots of enthusiasm.
Regrettably, there was no fireworks to end the evening. This is where I felt a tinge of sadness because my grandchildren do not know the joy of hearing the patakas go bang, see fountains of colour or experience the joy of finding shoorbans the day after Diwali.
I’m sure that Durban would have been alight with the sound of fireworks.
The highlight of my celebration was to visit my granddaughter’s class and read a story about why and how Diwali is celebrated.
Since these are four year old kids, my son read them the story of Peppa’s Diwali.
We showed them how diyas are lit, gave them burfee and naan khatai treats, did some easy stamp type mendhi tattoos and everyone chose a bindhi.
I wore a sari and Mira had on a cute lengha. The kids enjoyed it all and Mira was so proud of her Hindu heritage, smiling from ear to ear.
As much as I enjoyed celebrating this important occasion with my son and his family, I must say celebrating at home in Durban is the best.
Go well and stay safe.
Dr Sandy Kalyan
Image: SUPPLIED