Happy Diwali !!

Diwali in my childhood was all about new clothes and fire crackers. I would start looking forward to it starting a good one month in advance. Shopping for different types of oothubathi, the latest and fancy fire-cracker of the season, the longest Sara-Vedi and the rockets that I always had to sneak in, long lines at TNSC – my memory is real fresh. As I grew up in to late teens, craze for crackers died down a little (call it becoming socially responsible ;-)), but foodie goodies gained importance. It was still a time when I devoured all the jamuns, coconut burfis, kaju kathlis, naada murukku, chaklis, cornflakes mixture and karaboondhi. Those were the times when health / fitness / figure consciousness were unknown; I also remember showing enthusiasm in trying out less known recipes like Mohandal :) All I remember now is that it was some form of sweet. Cousins, aunts and uncles huddled watching the idiot box all day long; nonstop rain spoiling our fireworks, Solomon Pappaiya patti mandram, Simran and Sarath Kumar interviews is another memory I have of Diwali. I don’t recall attaching any religious significance to Diwali at any time, save the customary stacking of new clothes in the pooja room the previous day, the early morning hair wash and a quick peek at the local temple- new years was more religious to me than Diwali ever was !!

Today new clothes still reign in high spirits, pot-lucks are more like the order of the day, sweets and savories are more delicious to prepare than to eat and gain weight and lighting little lamps seem to dispel the winter gloom of New York City.

One of my teammates at work remarked:

" I see everything, but I don't see everything"

I was intrigued by the profundity!!!!