I tried to feel enthusiastic about a story I was putting together, but those cheap lights only reminded me of the pungent crackered night air I was missing out on outside. There is something about this festival that compels me to celebrate it. I don't quite know what it is. Maybe it's old family memories. Or the smell of new things.. Can't quite put my finger on it.
My point is.. today had nothing to recommend itself - a complete waste of makeup.
But I won't allow one crummy year cast aspersions on a lifetime of Diwali fondness. Here's why this is such a lovely time to be in Mumbai:
1) On other public holidays, the usual swarm of office-going cars may be missing, but there are ALWAYS cabs and rickshaws. The bane of any driver's existence. If you ask me, each and every one of Mumbai's cabbies and rickshaw-wallahs should be first inducted into a school of road etiquette, before being sent out in public. They drive their vehicles with the swagger of cockroaches. No, I don't like them.
But Diwali excludes none. For reasons I couldn't quite put my finger on earlier, this festival is compelling. And the cockroaches are compelled to stay home with their families (assuming their wives haven't left them).
2) Now I don't know if this second point is because the cabs and ricks are off the streets, but .. on Diwali, more people smile. Strangers, fellow commuters, neighbours, office junta you don't know - yes, many smile. It's probably the reason I'm looking for.. in any case, it's true. Maybe it's because everyone is in holiday mode. But then, it's not something that happens on New Year's. (Then, the focus is on sizing up each other's clothes). At this time, there's some sort of good humour going around. Maybe it's the sugar rush people are getting from all that mithai, but everyone is sincerely in a good mood. This festival, I am convinced, should be celebrated more often than it is.
Ok, I know I have only two points on my list.. and a respectable list should have at least three.. and I really would have waited 'coz now I'm totally into it .. but my shift is over.. my confinement has come to an end .. my phone is ringing off the hook .. and I have someplace else to be.. to make up for lost time!
Deepawalichya shubhechha!About the AuthorRaksha Shetty Raksha Shetty has been a journalist for 8 years, and is now Principal Correspondent in the Mumbai bureau of CNN-IBN. She joined CNN-IBN at the channel...Read Morefirst published:October 21, 2006, 20:06 ISTlast updated:October 21, 2006, 20:06 IST
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Never mind that this Diwali was spent looking at the cheap plastic electric lights at our office doorway - it can yet be salvaged. It is only 7 pm, and the night is young. Soon I will rejoin my family - they are no doubt sniggering at the thought of having that delicious mithai, and all that fun, all to themselves. Hmpf.
I tried to feel enthusiastic about a story I was putting together, but those cheap lights only reminded me of the pungent crackered night air I was missing out on outside. There is something about this festival that compels me to celebrate it. I don't quite know what it is. Maybe it's old family memories. Or the smell of new things.. Can't quite put my finger on it.
My point is.. today had nothing to recommend itself - a complete waste of makeup.
But I won't allow one crummy year cast aspersions on a lifetime of Diwali fondness. Here's why this is such a lovely time to be in Mumbai:
1) On other public holidays, the usual swarm of office-going cars may be missing, but there are ALWAYS cabs and rickshaws. The bane of any driver's existence. If you ask me, each and every one of Mumbai's cabbies and rickshaw-wallahs should be first inducted into a school of road etiquette, before being sent out in public. They drive their vehicles with the swagger of cockroaches. No, I don't like them.
But Diwali excludes none. For reasons I couldn't quite put my finger on earlier, this festival is compelling. And the cockroaches are compelled to stay home with their families (assuming their wives haven't left them).
2) Now I don't know if this second point is because the cabs and ricks are off the streets, but .. on Diwali, more people smile. Strangers, fellow commuters, neighbours, office junta you don't know - yes, many smile. It's probably the reason I'm looking for.. in any case, it's true. Maybe it's because everyone is in holiday mode. But then, it's not something that happens on New Year's. (Then, the focus is on sizing up each other's clothes). At this time, there's some sort of good humour going around. Maybe it's the sugar rush people are getting from all that mithai, but everyone is sincerely in a good mood. This festival, I am convinced, should be celebrated more often than it is.
Ok, I know I have only two points on my list.. and a respectable list should have at least three.. and I really would have waited 'coz now I'm totally into it .. but my shift is over.. my confinement has come to an end .. my phone is ringing off the hook .. and I have someplace else to be.. to make up for lost time!
Deepawalichya shubhechha!
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