Tiffin Tales 46

Hola..

I am optimistic that you all had a nice weekend. Saturday was windy and Sunday all day it just poured and poured. Well certainly not a happy weekend for us here. But yes, on Sunday we all took a long nap to beat the rainy mood blues and certainly it helped to an extent.

My Diwali shopping is still incomplete. The major part of cleaning and dusting is done and no i haven't made sweets or any goodies yet. Bengali's worship Goddess Kali on this day while mostly others worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha on this day. Lights adorn mostly all the houses and people use 'diya's' too illuminate. With changing times and different locales people use candles, especially tea lights to brighten up.

When we were growing up Diwali was much awaited festival because of the fire crackers. I along with my brother always used to enjoy bursting those and till this date i have fond memories of them. As we are from a meagre income family, our fire crackers weren't varied or too many. We had limited number of crackers but our excitement to burst them would multiply the happiness. Sometimes we used to wonder at our neighbors who used to burst tons of them probably but our parents always comforted us saying that happiness is never in them. Deep down in our hearts we weren't convinced but always being the obedient kids we were we never revolted. I can only dream of those days now because the winds have changed and these kids almost bring the house down when their expectations aren't met.

Over the years with the pollution levels going alarmingly high, its indeed wise to restrict Diwali lights and spreading the cheer with sweets and savories. The smoke from the crackers are quite disruptive not only on the day of Diwali but for for the consecutive days. People with asthma, babies and elderly people and animals who are the worst affected because they cannot express their despair. A lot of people have over the years have given up their love for crackers but there are scores who are yet to give up this love.

My children will perhaps never experience the joy of bursting crackers, but being a responsible citizen i refrain from polluting the air around me. For them Diwali should be lighting the house, knowing the reason behind celebrating this festival and spreading positivity.

Today the school is closed hence i got an escapade from making 'tiffin' but of course i had to make detailed lunch. Let's hope the festive week brings joy in all our lives...