Amongst those celebrating, there was a poor lady named Diwali in Ayodhya, one who was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. She waseagerly awaiting his return and decorated her small hut with just a few lamps that she could afford. When Rama visited her home, he was amazed by her devotion and simplicity and blessed her saying; the day will be celebrated as ‘Diwali’. Hence, Diwali came into existence.
Every year, Diwali brings to us all something different. It was the same for me as I waited for this day eagerly to fill up my big box of memories. This year, it truly brought moments full of mixed emotions.
An evening before Diwali, I was relishing as usual, my 'delicious' hostel dinner with my two
roommates, Anju and Menuka. All of a sudden, the three of us were rocked with the sounds of bursting crackers outside our hostel. We left our dinner plates and went outside to steal a glance at the sparkling fun of crackers. But we were not allowed to go beyond our hostel premises after 6:00 pm. So, we had to place ourselves on the threshold to enjoy watching folks celebrating Diwali with all passion. My friend Anju was so excited about the celebrations; I swear that she was visualizing herself lighting all the crackers. After a while, she cried out, "Kaash hum bhi bahar hote". (Wish we too stayed outside). This exclamation made me realise that I was going to celebrate another Diwali away from my family. Just then when I was busy contemplating my away-from-home Diwali celebrations, our hostel warden shrieked, "You three girls always break the rules. You cannot stand here after hostel timings.
Now, go inside". Menuka snapped and passed on a casual comment, "Rules are meant to be broken!" We shared a hearty laugh and went back to finish our now cold dinner. We went back to our rooms silently but then again the continuous cheerful sound of bursting crackers made us go wild. We could not control our enthusiasm anymore. Being mischievous girls that we always are, we opened the windows of our room to catch a glimpse of what was happening outside, but the watchman caught us peeping out of the window and signalled us to close the windows. Though we did as told, we still did not give up on the mission. Soon we dashed to the toilet and our next source was toilet's window. I could not balance myself standing on the toilet seat to peep out of the windows for long, so I came out. Anju and Menuka followed me grumbling. "How much we have to struggle just to look outside the windows". Once again, we got engrossed in our own personal chores.
Just after while, when I was lying on my bed, my cell phone beeped. It was a message from one of my friends wishing me a Happy Diwali. I too did the same and forwarded the message to everyone and slept with a gloomy feeling that I was not at my home and that meant no Diwali celebrations for me.
The next morning, I woke up to a cheerful cloud of wishes from friends. As usual, Menuka was ready, Anju was dressing up and I was still lost thinking about how I would spend the day that lay ahead of me. But these two friends of mine, cheered me up and we went to college to take an out pass till later in the evening so that we could have an unforgettable Diwali celebration with all of our friends. In that regard, we all made way to one of our friend's house and started preparations to set up the Mandir for Laxmi Pujan which was to be held shortly. While Anju and I were busy with our homework, Menuka was cooking a special dinner for all of us. After a while our other friends including Deepak and Komal arrived with loads of sweets, a delicacy without which the vehemence of the festival would seem fainter. All our friends came over and were greeted after which we began with the Laxmi Pujan, followed by lighting up of the diyas and candles which was followed by bursting dozens of sparkling crackers. Dinner was finally served and all of us enjoyed every moment of togetherness through Diwali.
From the moment I left from my friend’s place, till the time I dozed off in bed back in the hostel, the whole day’s events was revolving inside my mind. I had then realised that this was one of the most special Diwali celebrations in my life. It soon struck me that this was my last Diwali with my most special friends through the graduating years and this very thought pierced my heart. The realisation then dawned on me. I was not sure to whether I should feel Happy because I never had celebrated such a memorable Diwali with my friends or I should feel Sad as after this Diwali I would not be seeing any of these close friends of mine. I was in a state of emotional turmoil, a mixed emotional situation.
Well, whatever may come or go, we need to face it bravely. Thus one thing is for sure. I will always keep on adding sweet memories to my collection box. And this was one such memory to hold on to forever. Am sure, life has so much in store for us, and the next Diwali, there surely will be some other memorable moments to savor. Till then, this will remain the most
cherished Diwali in my life.
Jyoti Shokhanda
BA (Journalism, Psychology &
English)
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