Wishing you all a happy Diwali

In Kerala its only a festival in words. Since my childhood I have not celebrated it. Last year because of my children I had also lit some lamps in my home and burst some crackers. This picture is from our last year Deepavali celebration.
Its celebrated allover India but I don't know the reason for why Kerala have no vigour to celebrate this lovely festival of lights. 'Diwali kulikkal' is a famous saying in Malayalam that means spending the money in a lavish way.
In my home the must thing in Deepavali is an oil bath. We had used gingelly oil(Ellenna) in that times. In that times it was a custom to make dishes with 'Uzhunnu' on Deepavali. My mother had made 'Special Idlis' for Deepavali in which she had added ginger and green chilli pieces to the Idli batter and the side dish was 'Sambar'. It was a different taste than the usual ones. We will distribute this breakfast dish among our neighbours. Thats the end of our Deepavali celebrations.
Years passed, roles changed but celebrations still same. One day my elder son from play school came with a new present from teacher , it was a painted diya. It was painted by him and teacher requested to have it on Deepavali. I noticed his curiosity on these small earthen lamps and then I decided to buy them for our home also. We have a tradition to light lamps on Karthika viakku. But beyond all traditions we lighted our own earthen lamps in the next Deepavali. My mother also gave me some diyas. Its a collection to lit our home with love and care.

Celebrations have a thread connected with the past. Mostly it may be the victory of god over evil spirits. In that days victory was celebrated with lights. We can celebrate this festival without any limits of states even if its the victory of Rama, Krishna or Devi.

Have an oil bath which is good for our body, increases the blood circulation and good for our skin too. Have some homemade sweets and make an array of lights . Children will enjoy it without knowing much of it but they know how to enjoy a moment with its maximum. It may be the most memorable moment in our life.

I am googling for recipes of Deepavali sweets, new diya painting ideas and searching shops for crackers... Its the spirit of celebration making something new and sharing some new ideas to children. I will be so happy to see them away from Television. For every weekends I plan for their activities. Search the internet for ideas, tools and shops. Usually fridays I will visit the craft shop and buy some craft paper, glue, clay, coloured papers, some paints etc. Now I am in this role of a mother and trying to play my best ...

Above all light we have to light our minds also. Every festival has this side also. It must clean up our mind and lit it up with noble ideas and love. We must create a deepavali in our mind also. The inner joy has a lot to do. It can do miracles in our life.

Deepavali 2009