Fond Diwali Memories - 727

          FOND DIWALI MEMORIES OF OUR 

                               YOUNGER DAYS          

           

On the eve of Deepavali our House was at  its chaotic best or worst depending upon how one would look at it . It bore a striking resemblance to the chaos associated with Mambalam Ranganathan Street at its festive peak .

The " Boiler " for preparing  the Hot water for the early morning bath next day was scrubbed clean and was at its Shiny Best . The Sandalwood Tilak and the kumkum Pottu  made it look even more auspicious .

The Sesame Oil and Chikakai  powder in closed containers found the pride of place in the Swami Room .

Each one of us in the family would get the new pair of  Dresses with the kumkum mark which found a  place  on top of the newspaper laid out expressly  for that purpose by Appa in the Swami room.

The Special Sweets and Savories prepared by Amma in shiny brass containers found their place in front of the Deities in the Swami room .
My job was to keep the Diwali Fire Crackers in their  Shiny New Boxes whose front  had Asha Parekh , Dharmendra or Sharmila Tagore smiling in front in a neat row so as to occupy the maximum space and bring an awe among my friends for the volume of Crackers that we had purchased for the year .

Amma would decorate the front of the house with coloured kolam the previous night itself and this would be sure to draw the praise of of all the neighbors and anybody who chances to look upon it. 

Sulochana Mami s comment that she would have also joined amma to decorate her own house had she known that Amma was about to do it past Midnight brought a wry smile on Amma s face .

I felt really proud of my Amma s work and kolam and took special care to see that I did  not step.on the same and  burst the crackers away from the kolam .

Amma would  wake us up early in the morning with the aroma of the freshly prepared Coffee Decoction wafting through the room .

The first burst of the 100 wala was always before even brushing one s teeth and there was always a competition to see as to who would burst the first cracker of the Diwali day in the neighborhood.

The Ganga Snanam was always preceded by the recitation of sloka as said by Amma and the  application of Oil on the head before the bath .

Bathing done , we will all got  the blessings of Amma and Appa . The new dresses and  the Diwali crackers would be handed over to us . This would be the start of the daylong frolicking.

The  playing with the crackers would finally end with the collection of the debris and any unburnt stray crackers . But that would be late in the night after all the crackers have been burst .

The exchange of sweets and the intake of the same from select houses was always a trick which we had mastered over the years . We knew exactly as to which houses to avoid and which to patronize . Our taste buds were simply that good. 

Being a late born I had the best of everything which meant that I did not have to share the goodies with anyone .

These small pleasures I miss very much now.   What I miss the most is the Omnipresent Amma of old , behind every small or big detail at home .

Parents are now long gone and we have taken their place but in totally different circumstances 

We now miss our own Children as also our Grandchildren . They are now settled in far off places and they are better off that way . Best wishes to them as also to everyone reading this BLOG,.

Happy Diwali to One and All    .