Diwali, the simple way

Day 1: Arrived home early morning. After considerable pampering by mom, was prevailed upon to help clean the kitchen. Spent the entire day doing a very thorough job of it. Shelves were emptied, cabinets were turned out, stocked vessels scrubbed clean and an inventory made. Lunch was a delayed affair with me only wanting to go and snooze. And snooze I did, till I was woken up late evening with Papa insisting that we go Dhanteras shopping. Staggered home at 11 in the night by which time I had a sore back and sorry limbs.

Day 2: Woke up fully intending to spend the major part of the day in a parlour..god knows i needed it. But me being the Monica incarnate that I am, decided to take on the other rooms instead. So the crockery cabinet was tackled, the linen was aired etc..I finished well in time to be able to manage an oil massage and a curd conditioning. Visited V in the evening at his home. Mamma refused to let me go in my jeans and tee gear and insisted on dolling me up in a chudidar instead. So, although I looked a tad bit over-dressed, I did look nice (even if I say so myself) Later we took a drive later through the nicer parts of town. Home in time for early supper and some bedtime reading.

Day 3: Last leg of cleaning operations. A quick visit to the office for the morning pooja. A typical Bong lunch with luchi (better known as puri), begun bhaaja(fried aubergines), alu dum and payesh (kheer). Another long snooze and a few preparations for the lakshmi pujan. The rangoli posed a problem as I usually take a day to fix on the design and most part of the evening to get it right :P. That luxury not being available this time, I made do with a simple swastika pattern..made it look like a stylized fonts...:)) Was dolled up again, though I didnt look half as good as my mom this time. Post the pooja, a few crackers were burst in true noisy Hindu tradition..but the rest of the evening was peaceful enough lighting diyas and fireworks. This is my favourite part of the day. Phone conversations with the closer family and gossip with the folks. And a round of family photographing..auto-click is truly a boon!

Will be back to work and Bangland tomorrow...with memories of a Diwali well-spent..and armed with a big box of namkeen and mithai :) For once, I am not complaining about luggage..