Every blog will have a Diwali post up today. Also, every twitter-er, even if he is not a regular on it, adn has to click on forgot password to retrive the password, will somehow manage to remember about it and tweet the Diwali wishes. He will also go about wishing the random celebs for diwali. Of course, everyone on facebook will have happy diwali message, and random diwali greetings where all and sundry on their friends list get tagged. No wonder I have so many people on limited profile.
Of course, Diwali also means arrival of the Lashkar E Foiba (foi is dad's sister in gujarati) so my aunt arrives from Surat. When we were young, she and her annoying two kids, would come with two bags full of fire crackers. Unfortunately, I have always been allergic to smoke, and we would always have exams right after diwali vacation (dammit, if I were to get 10 bucks for every exam paper i wrote, i'd be richer than mukesh ambani and have an anthill err.. antilla of my own.) Anyway, so my annoying cousins would burst those noisy bombs and I hated it. Perhaps I hated it because they didnt burst the pretty crackers which go up in the sky and burst into pretty showers. No, these were plain and simple loud bombs.
The the day after Diwali is the new year. The new Vikram Samvat year sets and and that means, all the gujaratis go to their relatives place, especially elders and pay their respects. When I was younger, we'd leave our house at 10ish, and come back by 4ish, and then, other relatives will come over at my place to pay respect do my grandma and all. So it was a day where we just met people, bowed down to htem adn take blessings and money. There was this old relative of mine, who was so rich, but would give us all only FIVE rupees as Diwali bohni. WTF. Now, of course, things have changed, I go to only three houses, my naani and my aunts. I don't go to my parents' aunts and uncles places because I don't quite like them. :P
But the best part of Diwali, which I really like is awesome food, diyas, and rangoli. I'll be doing the rangoli tomorrow, so that will come up later, but rangoli is one thing I really look forward to.
We also have Puja on Chaudas and Diwali. Chaudas is a family puja which is a private affair, and no one else can participate either in the puja or even have the prasad. It's one of my favourite pujas of all times. :D But then, yesterday was also a cousin's birthday. His crazy wife, who's way too far from reality (in matters which I will elaborate in detail some other day) threw him a surprise party. Well, it did turn up to be a surprise for me. It was at this lounge in the multiplex in the city. When I entered the place, an hour after the appointed time (oh, dude, I had puja to attend to, and I had told the host beforehand of my late entry) the whole multiplex complex was devoid of any human being. Only person you could find was this security guard who asked me if I came for a party. It sounded so shady, i almost wanted to turn around and run away. I asked him if the place is shut down, he said, party is on third floor. I've never seen this place look so creepy before. So as I walked alone till third floor, I went into this dimly lit room, which was once a hookah bar (as informed by my well informed younger cousin, and it serves only mocktails, but cocktails to people who are regular here - TMI, i tell you) and as my eyes tried to adjust to the surroundings, I heard a very loud, "ARE YOU WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". WTF. So they had a "DJ" who played 'peppy' numbers where my cousins and their friends danced. Now, the last time I felt so uncomfortable with so many people was when an elephant splashed water all over me in a zoo in singapore. So, to save myself from being dragged on to the 'dance floor' I took up the most awesomest job ever - photography. I started clicking random photos, and so, the narcissist janta who loved getting photos clicked, left me alone.
An hour into the party, just when the party was getting all happening, I left. I needed some fresh air. Right. Looking for a fresh air on Diwali is like waiting for Arnab Goswami to shut up. The whole city smelt of gunpowder. I went for a drive towards the greener Gandhingar. Sigh. At times I feel I am so weird that I not only do I not like anyone, but am sure nobody likes me either. Except the crazy surd boy who asked me to be his girlfriend when I was in 11th standard. Sigh.
And then, today morning, I woke up with a slight fever. Its not a good feeling, this fever. Because with exams just 2 days away, I dont want to take chances. I want these to be the last exams I take. :D
On that note, I shall go. Foreign Exchange Management Act is waiting to thrill me.
So on this Diwali, go burst all the crackers you want - global warming can go take a dive in the ice it is melting. We're all going to die anyway. :P
Of course, Diwali also means arrival of the Lashkar E Foiba (foi is dad's sister in gujarati) so my aunt arrives from Surat. When we were young, she and her annoying two kids, would come with two bags full of fire crackers. Unfortunately, I have always been allergic to smoke, and we would always have exams right after diwali vacation (dammit, if I were to get 10 bucks for every exam paper i wrote, i'd be richer than mukesh ambani and have an anthill err.. antilla of my own.) Anyway, so my annoying cousins would burst those noisy bombs and I hated it. Perhaps I hated it because they didnt burst the pretty crackers which go up in the sky and burst into pretty showers. No, these were plain and simple loud bombs.
The the day after Diwali is the new year. The new Vikram Samvat year sets and and that means, all the gujaratis go to their relatives place, especially elders and pay their respects. When I was younger, we'd leave our house at 10ish, and come back by 4ish, and then, other relatives will come over at my place to pay respect do my grandma and all. So it was a day where we just met people, bowed down to htem adn take blessings and money. There was this old relative of mine, who was so rich, but would give us all only FIVE rupees as Diwali bohni. WTF. Now, of course, things have changed, I go to only three houses, my naani and my aunts. I don't go to my parents' aunts and uncles places because I don't quite like them. :P
But the best part of Diwali, which I really like is awesome food, diyas, and rangoli. I'll be doing the rangoli tomorrow, so that will come up later, but rangoli is one thing I really look forward to.
We also have Puja on Chaudas and Diwali. Chaudas is a family puja which is a private affair, and no one else can participate either in the puja or even have the prasad. It's one of my favourite pujas of all times. :D But then, yesterday was also a cousin's birthday. His crazy wife, who's way too far from reality (in matters which I will elaborate in detail some other day) threw him a surprise party. Well, it did turn up to be a surprise for me. It was at this lounge in the multiplex in the city. When I entered the place, an hour after the appointed time (oh, dude, I had puja to attend to, and I had told the host beforehand of my late entry) the whole multiplex complex was devoid of any human being. Only person you could find was this security guard who asked me if I came for a party. It sounded so shady, i almost wanted to turn around and run away. I asked him if the place is shut down, he said, party is on third floor. I've never seen this place look so creepy before. So as I walked alone till third floor, I went into this dimly lit room, which was once a hookah bar (as informed by my well informed younger cousin, and it serves only mocktails, but cocktails to people who are regular here - TMI, i tell you) and as my eyes tried to adjust to the surroundings, I heard a very loud, "ARE YOU WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". WTF. So they had a "DJ" who played 'peppy' numbers where my cousins and their friends danced. Now, the last time I felt so uncomfortable with so many people was when an elephant splashed water all over me in a zoo in singapore. So, to save myself from being dragged on to the 'dance floor' I took up the most awesomest job ever - photography. I started clicking random photos, and so, the narcissist janta who loved getting photos clicked, left me alone.
An hour into the party, just when the party was getting all happening, I left. I needed some fresh air. Right. Looking for a fresh air on Diwali is like waiting for Arnab Goswami to shut up. The whole city smelt of gunpowder. I went for a drive towards the greener Gandhingar. Sigh. At times I feel I am so weird that I not only do I not like anyone, but am sure nobody likes me either. Except the crazy surd boy who asked me to be his girlfriend when I was in 11th standard. Sigh.
And then, today morning, I woke up with a slight fever. Its not a good feeling, this fever. Because with exams just 2 days away, I dont want to take chances. I want these to be the last exams I take. :D
On that note, I shall go. Foreign Exchange Management Act is waiting to thrill me.
So on this Diwali, go burst all the crackers you want - global warming can go take a dive in the ice it is melting. We're all going to die anyway. :P
