Being here in Hong Kong it's very difficult to get a feel of India's biggest and much celebrated festival. Here's sharing my little bit of my celebration today.
6:00: Woke up early. Did rangoli outside my house and put a flower 'toran' (like a garland) outside my door.
6:30: Cleaned the house.
7:00: Got ready in my pretty Indian clothes - salwar kameez, wore all possible jewellery to match.
7:30: Dressed my younger son in his Indian outfit (kurta pyjama). Elder one unfortunately had to wear his uniform.
7:45: Joined husband in doing our little version of Laxmi puja.
8:00: Left for school.
8:30: Came back and shared 'mithai' (Indian sweets) with some neighbours. Tried giving some to the building management people but "I don't like sweets!"
9:00: Gave a Diwali talk to kids in my younger son's school. It was so much fun! We did rangoli and diyas together and also a short role play. All teachers and children looked very pretty in their Indian outfits. Left behind some 'laddus' (round Indian sweets) for them.
11:00: Went to the market to buy fresh flowers. House looks very pretty and colourful now.
12:00: Picked up younger one from school.
13:00: Lunch with my son. Nothing special.
14:00: Need to prepare for a small get together that I am having at my place with some Indian mums and children.
Will update this post tonight but wanted to send it out now to wish all of you. Hope to load some more photos too. Have fun!
Post party update
18:30: Guests gone and the house is empty again. But what is left behind is the happiness that we shared, the love, the warmth, the sounds of excited children squealing with delight as they held their phuljhadis (fireworks) in their hands and danced with delight or when they painted their diyas or coloured their Diwali-themed sheets and displayed them proudly on the balcony.
Being a Diwali day, I know that most Hindus have their own tradition of doing 'pooja' (prayers) in the evening with the family, hence I would like to say a special 'thanks' to all my friends who made an effort to come along with their kids. The beautiful Indian clothes, Indian snacks, the rangoli, the diyas and just the casual banter in Hindi contributed to making it a special Indian evening - a 'Diwali' evening. Just what I wanted my children to feel and experience. It may not have been a very grand party but it definitely served the purpose because at the end of it all when I asked my sons "So did you enjoy yourselves?" Pat came the reply with a broad grins "Very much!"
I was feeling so good that later when the building management person came to my door and asked me to take-off my pretty rangoli saying "Not allowed", instead of losing my temper, I very sweetly told him "Tomorrow -la'' and will tomorrow come tomorrow? I don't know. Just too happy to care!