Oct 21, 2006

Deepavali Wishes





Some 'Deepavali' malarum ninaivugal:

* Deepavali was understandably the most eagerly awaited festival for me - for the firecrackers. Months before Deepavali, I would start counting the exact hours left for that.. ;) The timeline is the 6 PM on the day before, i.e., the 'Naraga chaturdasi'. The excitement on those two days, was, unfortunately followed by the sudden low when I wake up the next day.. but then the 'Karthigai' festival always acted as a cushion to relieve the depression. Thanks Muruga!!

* Until my age 12, I always celebrated it with my parents; so when I had to be away bcos of my studies on the 13th year, I was really very sad.. c'd never really enjoy it. That was when I decided that I would never be out of my home during Deepavali, no matter what. I could keep that wish for 11 Diwalis after that, but for the 25th, I was stuck in Bangalore, despite my best efforts. And it so happened that, since then, I could never be with my parents.. :( Kaadhalukkaga thyagam!

* During my teenage, most often we would be celebrating it at our uncles/aunt's home. A very happy reunion time and with more people, it was always fun. Super samaiyal from Amma, cameraderie with cousins, smelling the smoke of 'saattai' and firing rockets towards the sky.. Each and every small thing was soo exciting.

* The hyper-enthu for the firecrackers continued until the mid-90's.. That was the sole purpose of Diwali almost.. The special programs on TV acted just as a breather in the middle of some real loud burstings. Most eagerly awaited program was 'Pudhupadal', showing a masterpiece Ilayaraja song from that year's Deepavali release. Some of the unforgettable songs include "Kanmani anbodu..", "Rakkamma kaiya thattu..", and "Sundari neeyum..".

* With the intrusion of Sun TV and its "Special-Live-from-Manila" programs, the sitting time in front of the idiot box slowly increased.. In '97 and '98, I really wished we turned the TV off and focussed only on the most important stuff.. but that was not the case to be.

* The past 2 years have been total bore here in the US.. no fireworks, no holiday, no nothing.. This year, even worse.. my other half will be celebrating it with her family and wishing me thr phone, while I will be sulking here alone.. Luckily, I got hold of a second-degree-cousin to spend the Diwali weekend.. so, hopefully, I will get a nice 'vaazhai ilai saappadu' and lots of fun with them and their friends.

Here is me wishing you all a very happy and joyous Deepavali 2006!! Burst away crackers on my behalf, and eat well too!! ;)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

wish you a very happy deepavali as well Raju.

:)

Ram C said...

Wish you a happy deepavali too...

Anu said...

Wish u a great Deepavali... n its my first time away from home, n I am really missing the sapadu and Deepavali maranthu

Anonymous said...

Wish you and your family a
VERY VERY HAPPY DEEPAVALI TOO.

mitr_bayarea said...

Raju-

Nice write-up. We can hear you about the lonely Diwali, good that u atleast found a distant cousin to meet with.

Wish you A Happy Diwali!!!

Ponnarasi Kothandaraman said...

Happy diwali! :)
And i have a nice tag!
If u like pls do write! :)

Me too said...

Appy Deepavali! Good that you are now in the NY/NJ (with maximum Desi crowd next only to CA, I guess!) area where it is a surprise if you don't find an old acquaintance or a distant relative! Oru deepavali release on the theatre unda?

Marutham said...

Wish you a very happy Diwali....

S.G.Ramkumar said...

belated happy diwali. I was/am busy will write to u later.

Raju said...

Sundar, Ram C, Anu, Anon, Mitr, Ponnarasi, Aparna, Nag, Marutham and Ram, thanks and wish you too the same... :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anu, first time away huh? mm.. thats one thing most people abroad will miss.. The fun back home is unmatched, ille?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mitr, thanks to them, y'day went rather well... super lunch.. chance-ey illa.. :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ponnarasi, deepavaliyum adhuvuma ippadi tag kuthittiye... mm.. already answered..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aparna, yeah... whenever I go for shopping in the NJ area, my eyes used to wander searching for some 'known' face.. no surprise on that yet.. but this distant relative was a good find. Worth the wait, probably.. :)