I Miss Home

It's that time of the year again, when I am most reminded of home....when the festivals are all crowding in your wall calendar, every days seems like a day meant for festivities, some pooja (prayer) , good food and meeting relatives..
My favorite festival is Diwali, it's the festival i most miss and look forward to and it's fast approaching..yipeee!!! but...i am not home..where i wud start preparations long back...my mum-dad and me would go on a shopping spree to buy gifts for family and friends. The shops would be so well decorated, with glitter, colors and there would be a zillion people on the roads and we'd hv to tackle our way! Then we'd prepare some nice Indian delicacies...gujiya, shakar pare, namkeen pare, mathari, samosa, kachori, sev....yummmy...my mouth is watering...ummmm...(and now i miss it all more!!!)

Then we'd battle through the insane traffic on Delhi roads and go gift delivering! this was really so cool, coz we'd get to meet friends we hadn't met in some time and i'd meet friends who were home for the holidays! and ofcouse the food...the very lovely Indian delicacies that i'd get to gorge!...I miss it soooo much!

The run up to diwali has some cute mini festivals...it's sooo much fun...all the little pujas and the cleaning in the house...so many times this would also be the time that the house would be painted...now that was the pain!! ...but soon the Diwali day would dawn...it is the one day, i don't crib to get up early...my day would be filled with decorating the house..with the leaf banner (called bandanwaar) , the painting on the floor (rangoli) and flowers would adorn the house...simply the best of indian delicacies would be consumed the whole day long...and then at nightfall...after the pooja (religious ceremony) we'd light the house with candles, diyas and the fancy string lights! the entire city would look like a galaxy! Then we'd go and crack the fire crackers and walk around town to see the lights and people...all dressed in the best of silks...

I sooo miss those days..the weather these days is the autumn i miss in India...the cool breeze in the mornings reminds me always of the long drives I have undertaken with my parents to meet family....the ganesh-laxmi idols @ home remind me of all the drama and hoopla surrounding the shopping of these idols in my Indian home....
If there is one thing I want to do right now..is go back to those good old days when I'd celebrate Diwali in India...