Diwali Musings & Reyankh's Art

There is something about Indian festivals and events. They are always boisterous, fun, full of people, celebrations, new clothes, overeating - in short - completely OTT (over the top). And as far as Diwali goes it takes the cake along with the icing except that we normally don't eat cake on Diwali - we just gorge and gorge on Mithais - telling ourselves after every mouthful that this one's going to be the last - promise!

Another Diwali is over and done with. This time more tiring that the last. Tiring because Diwali also calls for the annual spring cleaning which every year seems to get more and more tedious. Methinks its not because of the fact there is less support staff to do it for you but because we have become consumerist hoarders. So we keep purchasing and stocking things which we may or may not need ever and then every Diwali we wonder what to keep and what to throw! More so, because it's Diwali and we have just purchased some more! Oh! for the vagaries of the human mind!

While I am at it on the cleaning biz with a couple of housekeeping ladies I have called in from office - I face a dilemma - what to do with the bits and pieces left over from Reyankh's visit? I don't want to move his toy basket - it lies in the study reminding us of the many times we would coax him to play with his toys - which of course he never did! And why would he (play with toys) when he had four laptops, innumerable electronic gadgets, a guitar and a few cell phones to mess around with? High tech baby and all that :). Then there are the many drawers, that were within his reach, that look like a tornado hit them and how! I don't want to clean them. They remind me of the times I'd come home from work and find everything out of the drawers and all over the house. Is cleanliness more important than the memory of your grandson's visit?

The cleaning lady in the meanwhile, gets a wet mop to clean the doors and I shout to stop her in her tracks. She is almost ready to wipe off the beautiful art work done by Reyankh on the doors, walls, my bed and various other places his tiny little hands could reach. 'Hey wait', I say..'you can't wipe that - it's my baby's very first attempt at becoming a future Picasso!' 'But madam, it looks bad - we have cleaned the whole house so well. We can't leave these marks' she says. So after a bit of discussion we compromise. We clean some and we leave some. Reyankh's Art is part of the room and stays where we can see it all the time!

The rest of the festival goes on the way it does every year. The preparations more tiring than the actual celebration but fun nonetheless. There is always an air of solemnity in the prayers, a fervor in the lighting of the diyas, a strange sense of achievement in the making of the rangoli, lots of guilt in eating the mithai, sharing and bonding with friends and relatives and a feeling of bonhomie as the day ends with a mock card session where only 2 people lose!

Till the next Diwali then......

Ray