Festive spree is at its peak and the festival of lights or Diwali is just a few days away. Festive shopping, preparing yummy snacks, sweets, and savoury food, travel plans, meeting dear ones, decorations — all these must be the common ones in many of your celebration plans. Crackers, diyas, rangoli, flowers, home decor pieces — Diwali bash is all fun.
The celebration of light’s triumph over the dark has seen many changes so far. While the adaptation of modern technology has taken over, many vintage traditions have taken a back seat. On the other hand, in the last two decades, many festive rituals have ended up being just a festive routine with the massive commercialisation-wave around. The red-marked Diwali holiday in the office calendar has now become a long weekend — that is mostly preferred to be utilised for near at hand weekend gateways, domestic pending works, or restaurant hopping and clubbing. For many, it’s no more a day devoted to festive mood and festive merriment! Being a 90’s kid, whenever Diwali comes, I feel that the magnitude of the festivity has become much lesser. What is to be blamed? Well, busy lives, being away from family to pursue a better career, and the primary of all — the rise of cost and expenses!
Keeping aside my glumness of being unable to celebrate this Diwali with my family, let’s talk about how to make this Diwali special and bring a smile on every face.
When we talk about the increase in the cost of Diwali decorative items, can we for a moment think about the Clay Diyas or Earthen Lamps in lieu of electrical decorations — and that too from the local small-scale vendors? While this goes suitably hand in hand with our arguments on celebrating eco-friendly Diwali, it has some other values too.
I fairly understand and I am also a responsible fraction of the modern shopping complex and online shopping dependency and convention. Why not for a change, we opt for shopping our decorations from these small temporary shops that return on roadside every year prior to the festival of lights! Their products are not only in the minimum price range but imagine how your purchase can make some difference in their lives. Festivals are theirs too; the celebration of light over dark is for within us and around us. While your shopping cart value might not make any difference to the Diwali celebrations of the wealthy shopping complex owner, but it will surely light up those roadside vendors’ Diwali evening! So, everyone who lives with his/ her family, make full use of this time and let’s make this Diwali a wonderful and colourful memory for everyone around you.
I wish you all a very Happy Diwali in advance!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
