Diwali – A word that conjures up so many memories; when I let my mind wander. That last line also reminds me what a precious commodity time has become. In the quest of trying to do everything, humans seem to have lost the fine art of whiling away time.
Oh, lest I digress – Diwali, when I was growing up meant going to the nearest town in the newly bought Maruti 800 car and filling it with crackers to be burst for an entire week and realising that they were too much to even get done in a week’s time. They were distributed among the poor. I still remember the smiles that flashed on their faces when kids who weren’t privileged to celebrate the festival of lights were made happy.
I changed over the years, and diwali did too. It was quite a transformation phase as I studied all over the country – in Rajasthan, Pune & Bombay. After that Diwali meant something else to me as I handled the many factories of the family business. Diwali was more like a cleaning exercise and to distribute gifts among the workers to light up their homes and lives.
I had lost all penchant for bursting crackers and preferred seeing the staff happy and only bought crackers for them. Over the years I almost began dreading diwali and the entire week associated with it, like our dog at home. The air didn’t make things easier and I regularly had asthma attacks on these auspicious days. I used to scoop up in bed at home with our dog in the latter years of my 7 year stay at the business home.
In the last two-three years, diwali was celebrated on the road and has no special memories. Last year in Jaipur, I had a glimpse of ‘what could be’ as we drove through the markets of the 300 year old walled city while my dad relived his memories. I gasped and gawked and screamed like a kid who had never seen diwali as it was simply meant to be – ‘The festival of lights.’ I was quite sure Diwali in Jaipur was one of India’s best and keenly awaited when time would come around again.
This year I was ready – In the pink of health to fight the pollution and also very wisely I chose to wear a mask. Here you go :
12 Photographs of Diwali in Jaipur that will make you happy
More posts on Jaipur :
Being a tourist in my own city – Inside Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal
A sunrise in Jaipur on a stormy morning
For more travel stories, anecdotes and experiences connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
