Bright lights, colorful clothes, delicious food, interesting
gifts, lovely wishes and happiness all around. When presence of these wonders
dominate our typical routine, we realize the influence of an amazing festive
aura. As this festival of light enters our lives with brightness, energy,
enthusiasm and love, it feels wonderful to grab an opportunity of celebration.
Bringing families, relatives, friends and well-wishers under a roof, no agenda is
necessary to begin the festival. With focus on fun, food, happiness and prayers,
DIWALI certainly lights our feelings and brightens our emotions.
So while till
date, celebrating this wonderful festival meant shopping, cooking, decorating
and being with family on home ground, presence of foreign soil was expected to
make a difference in this year’s schedule. Celebration of a special festival
miles away from home country, yet the happiness of exploring a new style in a new
land was definitely a cocktail of several feelings together.
Following parents’
instructions every year, as I enjoyed being a loyal helper, there was a drastic
change in my job role this time! I realized a badge of ‘in-charge’ waited to
greet me with new responsibilities. This important festival post marriage was
turning into an independent attempt, demanding plans and acts of execution.
As I put my previous knowledge into action and looked forward towards the novel touch of new location,
there was lot of excitement in picture. With no elder to validate my festive
information, the opportunity of bossing over husband with my personalized set of instructions amplified the joy to a great extent! From preparing a
shopping list for essential festive items to searching traditional recipes on
the internet, from lighting little lamps in the house to adding a foreign twist
to every aspect, this change of job was certainly fun in every way.
While bringing
this festival joy within the scope of ‘home away from home’, I realized it was
not very different from the ones we celebrated during all these years. Though
it was impossible to replicate every single aspect, it did offer us joy of
experiencing love, devotion, values and enthusiasm. Savoring the taste of my
experimental sweets while analyzing and comparing it with those made by mom
each year, I pondered about the real meaning of a festival.
Is it about the location where you celebrate or the amount
of money you spent?
Is it about the resources or materials that spell out
traditional value or about the pure flavor of homely ingredients?
While it is impossible to hunt for perfect and correct
answers, life on a far-away shore tempted me to share my words, once again!
Series of little lights shining over windows of many houses for this grand
festival on foreign soil gave birth to the title of this blog. As light and
feelings travel all around the world, it has taught me some interesting facets
of festivals.
1.
Festivals do not have a PIN code
Born
with an aim to spread happiness and cheer in every household, festivals cannot
be restricted to any particular address or location. Celebrated with feelings
of love, care, trust and togetherness, they can be enjoyed in any part of the
world. Be it a city far away from home or a country miles away from our birth
soil, festivals do not validate your address to grant you access in its aura.
2.
Festivals do not have a price tag
While
relationships cannot be purchased and feelings cannot be bought from the
market, festivals are not for sale
either. They do not demand a fixed amount or expect a certain budget as celebrations
involve feelings and emotions. With love and happiness as their initial raw
materials, we can only amplify their presence year after year. Though we look forward to gifting our loved
ones with special surprises, they are nothing but fun-filled materials to symbolize
our love.
3.
Celebrations cannot follow a protocol
Be
it a religious festival or a cultural one, be it a national celebration or
international day of significance, festivals cannot be celebrated with a fixed
agenda or defined protocol. As we found happiness in our own version of
celebration at home, I realized the joy in adapting to the surroundings. Festivals
do not validate our methods but provide joy in the process of designing them. From
lighting candles in place of traditional oil lamps to watching traditional
music videos on YouTube, we created our interesting protocol.
4.
Festivals are virtual too!
Now
while we all agree, nothing can replace the joy of seeing our loved ones or the
purpose of any festival is to bring everyone together, we did enjoy an unusual
virtual mode of celebration. Encoded within messages, captured by pictures and flowing
with videos, as we enjoyed long-distance version of celebration, our phones
appeared to be much smarter than before!
Hope many such festivals continue to spread
happiness and joy in our world as these feelings do not look at boundaries or
stop at any location. They are meant to travel all around- delivering smiles,
refilling laughter!
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