Dussehra and Diwali: Festivals were fun with Dad and Mom

Festivals are celebration times especially with the onset of Navratras, Durga Puja, and Dussehra followed by Diwali, Bhai Duj, culminating in Chatth. Festivals bring a lot of positive energy to our life. In our daily journey, we tend to collect negative energies may be due to office stress or due to household pressures. These energies keep adding till the time we reach a festival which gives us a reason to celebrate and smile. Festivals bring a lot of positive energies which negates all the negativity in your life. Festivals are like the day you encash your savings in a fixed deposit in the form of happiness.

There is a vast difference in how we celebrate festivals and how we celebrated it in our childhood. These days I have to push my grown-up kids to come out and celebrate the festivals like Dussehra and Diwali. And let me be honest they need a lot of convincing to leave their laptop and come out to enjoy the festivals in nature’s lap.

Celebrating Dussehra and Diwali

I am very fond of celebrating every festival in its entire grandeur. Yesterday on the day of Dussehra, I was having a chat with my daughter on where to get green crackers this Diwali. She immediately replied that whether green or not they will create a lot of noise and our pet Mr. Bruno is quite sacred of it. I was a bit perplexed on whether she is environment-friendly or trying to hide her lack of interest behind the veil of the environment.

The reason I want to celebrate festivals with kids especially Dussehra and Diwali is that it’s a tradition that I want to pass on to the next generation. I know they show their disinterest in celebrating it. However the day they become parents they will be teaching the same thing to their kids in a fashion they have learned from me. After all, I also learned it from my dad.

The Ram and Ravana of our times

Dussehra in our childhood was one of the biggest festivals to be celebrated. Schools used to close for 10 days on Dussehra. The break was called Dussehra holidays and the 1^st terminal exams used to get over before the Dussehra break.

At our house, my dad was the one who used to be at the forefront of celebrating all the festivals. Though he was a strict, no-nonsense and all-studies kind of a dad, festivities used to reflect a different kind of personality of his.

We used to stay in a South Delhi colony – Safdurjung Enclave. In our times every colony used to have big Melas (fairs) with huge effigies of Ravana, Meghnath, and Kumbhkaran. Ramleela was organised in every neighbourhood block and was performed for an entire week. It was fun to go and watch Ramleela in the evening along with your friends. Parents were seated on chairs at the back while kids were supposed to sit in the front on a mat. Watching Ramleela was not only fun but also gave a good excuse to stay away from studies.

The day of Dussehra

On the day of Dussehra wearing new clothes was a ritual. We would spend the entire day impatiently waiting for the evening. The mela used to start early evening. Dad would take us all – myself, sisters and mom on a Lambretta scooter. The toys in the fair were simple and all kids just wanted the bow and arrow or the wooden sword. I think every bow and arrow made a young kid feel like Lord Ram and every sword and the gada made one feel like Hanuman. Seeing the burning effigies was a thrilling experience.

The next day it was dad who would mark a target on the wall by using chalk and we were supposed to hit it with the bow and arrow. While the arrows made of light straws will fly haywire, he would ask us to remain focused. Probably that was one lesson he wanted us to remember by heart – stay focused if you want to achieve something.

Dussehra and Diwali both are festivals of crackers

Dussehra is all about listening to the sound of crackers from a burning effigy of Ravana while Diwali is bursting the crackers yourself. We used to get pistols a week in advance and showcasing it to friends was like James Bond brandishing his revolver.

Dad was the one who taught us how to burst crackers. He would go to Sadar Bazaar to get the crackers along with his friends. I remember we used to wait the entire day just to have a look at what all crackers he got. The crackers were quite similar to the ones we get these days but were not so sophisticated. Rockets, Seeti, Train, Anars, Chakris, Phoolzari and Ladi bombs were the popular ones.

Bursting Crackers

Being kids we could only burst crackers in his presence. He would light a Phoolzari and ask us to hold. Anars and bombs were his forte. For running the train we used to tie a thread between two ends and then light it with a candle. Rockets were lighted in a Roohafza bottle (booze bottles were not available so freely).

The fun of the Diwali festival was the entire neighbourhood coming together and bursting the crackers. Jumping over a chakri sparkles and closing the ears with your hands just before your dad lighted the atom bomb still gives me those goosebumps.

There was excitement indoors also with mom preparing pakwans since morning. Poori and Dal ki Kachauri was a must. We were not supposed to taste the Kheer before the Lakshmi puja. The Mandir was decorated with diyas with Ganesh and Lakshmi Ji taking the centre stage. Diyas were first lighted in the mandir and thereafter the same candle was used to light the diyas and candles decorating the entire house.

It’s probably the same puja tradition which mother passed on to us that we perform on the day of Diwali.

Dussehra and Diwali are traditions which we need to carry on

One lesson which I learned by celebrating the festival with dad was that life will always be full of crackers but if you are careful you can handle it well.

The tradition passed on to me by my dad is what I still practice. He is no more but his teachings are always going to be with us. Similarly, I want my kids should also carry the tradition forward. It is for this reason that I want to celebrate every festival with a great bang.

Wishing you a Happy Diwali

I hope my kids are reading this blog and this Diwali will be bursting the green crackers with me. And the same stands true for you. So here is wishing a happy Diwali to you!

Read more such similar stories on my blog. Click on the link below:

Father the best batsman in the world to play Cricket

The Great Expectations: falling in love with childhood once again