Bachpan Ki Diwali (Childhood Memories)
Let’s relive some childhood memories!
Childhood memories
Let’s relive some childhood memories. As a school kids, the biggest piece of good news we got in school was Diwali Vacation. Everyone used to be very excited for this festival.
School Celebration
First, we used to celebrate Diwali in school as a traditional day. On that day, everyone used to come in different costumes representing different religions and states of our country India. Some became Maharashtrian, some became Gujrati, Rajasthani, Punjabi, Tamil, etc., and together we used to celebrate Diwali with our teachers.
House Cleaning Mission
The very first duty given to us by Mom is to clean the house. Mom used to be the team leader of the house cleaning mission, giving instructions to all the family members that this work should be done first, that will be done later, this work should be done in that way, etc. We used to follow her and help her so that this mission could be done quickly and then we all together could go shopping for Diwali.
Shopping Tour
Diwali’s biggest excitement for us was to buy new clothes and crackers. All family members used to go on the shopping tour together. One day before, mom used to make the list of things, to which we kids used to listen keenly and request her to add more things for us. On the shopping day, in the market, while mom and dad were bargaining with the shopkeeper, we used to search for crackers, lanterns & sweets shops, and once we found those shops, we request mom dad to come with us and buy those things for us.
Decorating Homes
Decorating our home was one of the best things we loved to do. Though new lanterns and diyas were bought at home, all the kids of the colony used to make paper lanterns and paint and decorate diyas together.
Mom and a group of aunties together make Rangoli in front of their houses at the same time so that they all together could play music and make the rangoli creation more interesting and memorable. Not only girls, but also some boys, used to help their mom in making rangoli. Brothers used to tease their sisters by threatening to spoil their rangoli, and this sweet squabble made that moment unforgettable.
Diwali’s Special Dishes
Eating delicious homemade dishes at home as well as at neighbours’ homes was the most favourite moment. All kids become delivery girls and delivery boys, delivering dishes plates and pooja prasad to each other’s homes. Helping mom in making dishes like Chivda, Chakli, Laddu, Shankarpaade, Barfis, etc. is one of the unforgettable moments. It was the time for not just eating, but overeating!
Lakshmi Pooja Day
The day for which we used to eagerly wait was the day of Lakshmi Pooja, third day of Diwali. Waking early in the morning, helping mom in work and in making rangoli, decorating home with diyas in the evening and then we all dressed up for the Lakshmi pooja. After Pooja, all used to gather, wish each other and burst crackers, rockets, chakris, flower pots, etc. Mom, Dad, Uncle Aunties warned us to be careful while bursting crackers and the ones who afraid of crackers, enjoy this bursting session by holding just phuljodis and by dancing with the fired flower pots.
Bhaidooj
The fifth day, the last day of Diwali, is the day for brothers, sisters, and cousins. We all cousins with our parents used to gather at each other’s houses in the evening to celebrate Bhaidooj, eating sweets and laddus together. Gift Session was our favourite session of this day. After these five days, we used to go for the family trip and visit relatives’ homes.
Carrying all these sweet and beautiful memories, we used to go back to school and wait for the next year’s Diwali.