Festive Edition: LifeLately --4

I know the socials have been pretty full of Diwali drops lately, I’ve been having a whole lot of fun going through how the same day carries so many different meanings to different people. And yes, I also wanted to bring in my very own version of it. So, here I am :)

To be very frank, I was a little confused on whether to bring this on as a LifeLately edition or as a standalone, but this pretty much is how LifeLately has been. So, here we go!

Diwali, for me, has always been really special. I feel it has this unique quality, that it always manages to be special for each of us in one way or another. But this year, it was a lil extra special (I donno, I believed I had reached the superlative there, but yea, turns out you never really know). Maybe bcs I was here to witness all the tiny extra sparkle it had to offer.

The magic actually kicks off way before Diwali actually arrives. Nothing really changes, but it’s as if everything kinda changes. There’s a slight unrest in the air, a slight murmer, as the one that precedes the arrival of a great personality. Only this murmer isn’t one limited to mere people, it’s the gentlest hum created by the universe itself.

Just on the sidelines, random small stalls start popping up on the by lanes, hoardings and advertisements bring on the Diwali fervour, deep home cleaning starts off, even the air feels clearer, cooler, more soothing, yet palpitating with the exuberance only Diwali can bring. You can just feel it in the air.

I can’t quite explain it, the leaves start turing greener, flowers bloom harder, the sun shines brighter, all determined to be on the best of their splendour to meet the festive common to all, rich or poor, the one festive that lights up every single life.

In my home, Diwali prep kicks off by deep cleaning my entire home, making fresh homemade sweets and snacks and adoring our doorsteps with pretty bandanwars. New things are purchased as well. Lots of them.

It’s not like we can’t afford or don’t buy new stuff all year round. Nor do the items need be excessively costly or anything. They can be as simple as a new lunch box. It’s just that the small act of waiting, a little longer to actually bring them on Dhanteras, or during Diwali shopping spree gives a different kind of warm joy. One that can only be experienced when all family members sit down to unbox their new things, their own tiny gifts to themselves.

Diwali for sure is about celebrating grandeur. Of all the things there are about it, subtlety isn’t one of them for sure. It serves as a strong reminder that maybe being nonchalant isn’t the only way to do life. You can do it in the exact opposite manner as well. Be as gloriously sparking as those fairy lights! Light up entire rooms with your presence! Own the place!

Be vocal about your thoughts, your opinions, don’t be afraid to speak your mind out. You deserve to own your own space that is wholly yours and irreplacable. Just like that Gulab Jamun and Jalebi who own their space, and can’t be replaced by any banana bread for sure.

Be the whole new unapologetically brilliant version of yourself you wanna be. Don’t be scared to be the center of attention just how rangoli’s are meant to be.

Do not, absolutely do not, try to mellow down your fragrance my rose petals, the world deserves more of your fragrance and you deserve to own it too!