Diwali: our contribution to environment and economy!

The last couple of weeks have been kind of crazy. What with a lot of reshuffling at work, I suddenly found myself neck deep in projects, and people who know me, also know that I am the kind who doesn’t really like to work! So, yes, it hasn’t been an easy time for me, but for a change, I do enjoy my job, I do feel like I am doing something meaningful, and therefore, I am not cribbing as much as I should, given my sleepless, zombie state!

And of course, it was also the Diwali weekend. Now I remember being a kid, and celebrating Diwali in Asansol with my cousins, complete with crackers and ‘Diwali ghar’ and the annual ritual of ‘bhai fota’. I also remember past Diwalis in Mumbai, uneventful and quiet, except the fireworks show at Marine Drive. And I remember getting my PPO on Diwali last year and breaking up with someone the previous Diwali: both very important events when it happened, but just some passing occasions as it seems now…

Contrary to all these past Diwali experiences, this time it was more like any other Saturday: being at home, ordering the same lunch, drinking the same pepsi, chatting about the same things- no fancy crackers, no meeting people, and definitely no puja at home. It was MY home, so I had the luxury to spend it my way. In the evening, we did light up the house with diyas, we did wear traditional clothes, and then, and then, we drank for 4 hours (or more precisely, they drank, I ate). I thought it would be fun, just watching two guys drink and listening to them, but as it turns out, when drunk people insist on ‘making points’, ‘stating facts’, and ‘establishing theories’, you really don’t know how to react… especially when they keep admiring some 6”2 woman behind you!

So that was Diwali: like any other weekend, like any other normal holiday, except the few universal, impersonal Diwali smses that came my way to which I replied dutifully. But the people who matter, called up, and that’s all matters really.

And then amidst a spate of really sad Diwali releases, we ended up watching a little known movie (Inglourious Basterds) with a little known actor, Christophe Waltz, who stole the show! And there was the usual pizza party, the lunch with old friends under new circumstances, the eat-till-you-throw up Gujrati dinner at Rajdhani, and then there was the TADA! Factor yet again which seems to haunt me now.

This Diwali was ordinary unlike the previous ones, this Diwali was nothing special, and yet, something tells me I will remember it, precisely because there is nothing to remember, because this is how my life is, this is how I spend each day…and yes, we didn't burst crackers (that makes us envieonment friendly) and we drank (that makes us economy friendly)