Happy Diwali—festival of lights

A service station all dressed up for Diwali

Beginnings of an elaborate rangoli

Note: I tried to post this yesterday, but couldn’t get a stable connection. Diwali officially started Sunday.

As of yesterday, India is in the midst of celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights and one of the happiest and most important holidays of the year for Hindus all over the world.

Wherever Diwali is celebrated, you will see millions of candles, lamps and party lights twinkling from rooftops and verandahs, outside doors and windows, at temples and businesses, through whole communities—even trucks and tractors get the works.

Dad buys flowers for his daughter’s hair

Accompanying the lights are floral displays, colourful decorations, rangoli (chalk designs), new clothes, copious amounts of food, fireworks and blaring music.

Spiritually Diwali signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. It is a time to worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.

Other religious significance attached to Diwali varies regionally within India, depending the local school of Hindu philosophy, legends and beliefs. Most use the day to honour the return of Lord Rama, his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshmana, from 14 years of exile after Lord Rama defeated Ravana. Diyas (lamps and candles) help to illuminate their path home.

Flowers are everywhere during Diwali

Creating a rangoli in front of her shop

I read today that for the first time ever, an American president, Barack Obama, honoured Diwali by lighting diyas in the White House.

This is the second Diwali we’ve enjoyed in India in the last three years. The first we spent camping just outside Pench National Park. That year, Deepti convinced us to buy party clothes at a shop called Bombay Dyeing in Jabalpur.

The poor salesman was completely flummoxed trying to find anything that would fit across my bosom. As a result, I spent rather too much time in the dressing room calling out for someone to come help me get out of yet another ‘straitjacket’.

At last, he came up with an almost florescent, multi-coloured frock with bright skin-tight blue leggings and a red and blue chiffon scarf—a fetching combination that would do well as a Halloween costume. Just add a mask!

My Diwali dress had more colours than this rangoli

I won’t be showing any pictures of that get-up unless Poor John wants to slip an image to fellow blogger, Brian Lageose, who writes hilarious dialogues to accompany often disturbing vintage photos.

Luckily, this Diwali was different. We had an epic 300-plus kilometre drive from the backwaters of Bhigwan (east of Pune) to Tarkarli Beach on the Indian Ocean.

This time we wore everyday clothes, and Anand drove 13 hours, with few breaks, through beautiful rolling countryside and then down a section of the Western Ghats (mountains).

Rangoli

Barber

Flower shop

Chicken shop

All the cities, towns and villages were festooned with Diwali lights and decorations.

We were surprised to discover that Diwali doesn’t necessarily mean a day off for many people. Roadworks were underway in many places, and most businesses and shops were open. Poor John could even have had a haircut.

The celebrations for Diwali actually carry on over four or five days. Decorations are still up and the festive spirit remains.

By the way, Diwali goes by other names, especially Deepavali. It is observed worldwide by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.

Decorations for trucks

If you’ve never seen this holiday celebrated, maybe you should keep a lookout in your own country. In addition to India and Nepal, the main countries observing Diwali/Deepavali are Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Mauritius.

Oh, and this holiday is not without its tragedies. The news this morning said there were 173 major fires reported yesterday, all caused by fireworks.

Firecrackers for sale in Malvan, near Tarkarli Beach

Two days ago, a major blaze swept through the firecracker market in Aurangabad (the city we had just left). More than 150 cracker stalls were destroyed, along with 40 vehicles (mostly two-wheelers). Thank goodness, only four people were injured.

But going back to that tight-fitting, eye-smiting Diwali dress I wore in 2013. It reminded me of the low-cut black velvet dress I made for a university dance in the late 1960s. It was the longest night of my life. I’ll get around to that story one day.

P.S. It’s been almost impossible to capture pics of the Diwali lights at night. I don’t have a tripod with me and the van travels too fast to get sharp pics. So most of the pics here are of the colourful and often intricate chalk decorations called rangoli.

Round rangoli

Sun rangoli

Geometric rangoli

Simple Diwali decorations