Diwali days are here again!!

Hello everybody!... I'm back after a wee break!!... (funny!... I was Sameer before I took the break... now I'm back!)

I'll give a brief account of the things I did during the Diwali break. So, here goes!...

On Friday I returned home from work and saw The Sixth Sense which was shown on Star Movies. Its such a great movie. A movie with a message, with a wrapping of a horror story around it. Only when you peel away the outer wrapping, will you realize that this movie goes beyond the genre of horror movies. It is not meant to be a pure horror flick, which is why you can spot holes spread right across the fabric of the plot. The movie makes a point about communication or the lack of the same. Everybody uses some means or the other to communicate in order to obtain knowledge or love or peace... be it humans or spirits... br it in this life or the next!

The next day, i.e. Saturday saw me doing some serious last minute Diwali cleaning at home. At the end of it, I was feeling a bit pooped. But had a couple of things to take care of at the office. So, I made my way to the office... with the only consolation being that I took the car instead of travelling in the bus or the train. In the evening, I was supposed to meet-up with Shuchita and Suku. The meeting was scheduled at 6:30 PM and the first stop was Shuchita's place at Juhu. Now, Chandivali (the sidey locality where my office is situated) to Juhu makes for a travelling time of 20-30 minutes under normal traffic conditions. So, I left at 6:00 PM from the office, hoping to reach just in time. But the keyword was normal traffic conditions! And the traffic was anything but normal that day. As I sat behind the wheel in the car surrounded by zillion other cars, stuck in a vicious traffic snarl about halfway to the destination... I could only wait and watch... drumming my fingers, in frustration, on the steering wheel!! Finally, after an hour and a quarter of driving at a snail's pace, I managed to break free from the traffic and reached Juhu. A call to Shuchita later, I realized that the meet-up had been called off because there wasn't any news from me!! It was almost completely my fault since I failed to call up and tell that I was caught up in the jam. Poor old Suku had to come all the way to Juhu before she had to return because the meeting was cancelled! Hate me!... I deserve it! Shuchita, no doubt, would have got one more reason to brand all Sameers as jerks!

I was supposed to wake up early morning on Sunday and leave for Pune. Wake up I did! But after I did so, my mom informed me that the plans had changed and only my dad would make the trip to Pune. So, I went back to sleep!... got up late and did nothing for the better part of the day. Actually I watched the Indian cricket team stave off a possible defeat at the hands of West Indies. Sachin Tendulkar came back to form with a cracking 176. He was ably supported by Laxman who hit yet another ton at Eden Gardens, Kolkata! In the evening I went out and bought couple of boxes of sparklers or phul-jharis... only in the name of tradition, since I've stopped bursting crackers which emit more noise than light and/or colour.

Monday was the big day... the D-Day (Diwali day). Following the tradition, I got up early, much before dawn... at 4:00 AM, to be precise! My mom applied the paste of scented uttna on my arms, legs, face and back... some coconut milk or shira on my head... and I then took a bath... in the pre-dawn darkness. This bath... known as the abhyanga-snana is a Diwali tradition and I don't recall having missed this... ever! After the bath... I felt like a million bucks and smelt even better!! *LOL*

After everybody was finished bathing, mom brought out the faraaL which is the best thing about Diwali!! I spent some quality time feasting on all the chaklis, chivda, laddoos, karanjis... till my stomach groaned and my tooth ached!! ;-) ... But it seemed criminal to refuse the delicacies that were laid out in front of us. As the stuff vanished from the plates in front ot us... our neighbour knocked on the door with a plateful of faraaL ... (its a tradition to exchange faraaL). So, no sooner did she leave than I turned my attention towards the newly arrived stuff! And... as if on cue... just as this plate was being emptied, my aunt arrived bringing with her another plateful of goodies to eat! ... *LOL*... it was too much of a good thing as I suddenly felt very sleepy... no doubt due to the fact that I had had a king-sized breakfast and also due to the fact that I had just 4 hours of sleep, the night before. So, with a contented tummy, I stretched out and slept. I didn't even wake up to have my lunch. I slept right throughout the day... waking up only in the late afternoon.

In the evening, I visited my uncle's place where I was subjected to another round of faraaL!! And then to my friend's house where again I was offered a plateful of chaklis, laddoos and the like!! I had to politely refuse the offer... but only after having a bite as a token gesture! ... *LOL*

Diwali nights are the best!! Almost every house is decorated with lights and kandeels... and of course the wonderful little earthern diyas. Majority of the homes have intricately designed rangolis outside their doors, which just adds to the whole atmosphere! Fewer sights can beat the sheer beauty of an exquisite, colourful rangoli flanked by rows of tiny diyas. It is a sight both alive and serene at the same time... something that makes me wanna stop and admire!! :-)

Another feature of the nights during Diwali is... crackers! It just makes this festival so unique! This year though, there has been a marked decrease in the number of noisy crackers... which is a welcome change indeed! Instead, people have been buying rockets, and other aerial crackers which are a treat to the eyes. Hopefuly, this trend will continue and we will hopefully have a true festival of lights instead of the festival of noise that Diwali had degenerated into during these last few years!

Today morning, I woke up early... had a bath... dressed up in new clothes and visited the temple! Siddhivinayak temple, which is right next to our building was abuzz with people, in all their finery, coming to seek the blessings of Ganapati on the first day of the New year... i.e. Samvat 2059.

So... Happy New Year to all of you!!... may this new year bring prosperity and success in your lives!!

Today happens to be the birthday of my best buddy, Saurabh. I've known him for the last 13 years and he's been my best friend for all those years!! Many many happy returns of the day to him!!! ... Happy Birthday Saurabh!!

By the way... I'm wearing my new watch for the first time today and unless I'm mistaken... I've been getting second looks!! ... admiring second looks... to be precise!! ;-) *LOL

Hmmm... now that I look back... I realize that this wasn't such a brief account after all!! ... But what the heck!! ... its Diwali!!!! ... anything goes!! ;-)

cheers!!