21 October 2009

Dil Bole Diwali!!

The splash of colour
the sparkle of lamps
the tinkling of laughter
the celebration of joy
the delicious food
the feisty firecrackers
the welcoming of light
the farewell to dark
the celebration of love
the loveliest of times!!!!

This Diwali, N and I sat down with our morning tea reminiscing our childhood memories of Diwali...about the innocent excitement that buzzed through us as kids and everyone else around on the day of Diwali...the rituals, the worships, the rangolis, the lamps, the lanterns, the food, the firecrackers and more than anything else, the people....super-duper times, I say!!! Less than 30 mins into this flashback mode, and both N and I got charged up...we too wanted to 'do something' (overflow of 'kuch toh karte hain yaar' emotions)!!

So here's what we did over the next two days,
~We conjured up an instant version of the utna (this is a Diwali-special, Marathi traditional version of Fair and lovely)...using coconut oil, sandalwood and orange powders :D (hilarious, I know but when you are this far from home and desperate, anything works!)


~N put on some lights, as after all, isn't that what Deepavali literally means? The chain of lights??

~We made masala dudh as offering to Dev Bappa for the Diwali puja

~We went to a nearby Mahalaxmi temple for the Kanakabhishek puja....this is an amazing puja, where they literally do an abhishek of Goddess Laxmi with new (gold-like looking) dollar coins...rumor has it that if you witness the puja, your next 7 generations (at least) wont face poverty (this was my second time of witnessing this puja, does that make my next 14 generations immune??!!)


~We went to a lovely get-to-gether at UBC, where we made new friends and laughed as the kids lit the sparklers (fulbaajis) and enjoyed some of the most amazing food ever!!


~And, believe it or not, I also made some faraal (both the aais were very happy to hear this!)


-the besan ladoos are microwave ones using Bhatukli's recipe...this one is an amazing, super-easy recipe and works really really really well, especially for first timers like me!!..click here to find out more.
-for the chaklis, I followed Chefinyou's recipe...these came out quite well too, considering I made them for the second time in my entire life!..check out the recipe here.

Happy Diwali everyone, I know I aam a little late but I hope you too had a lovely time with your loved ones....may the coming year be full of happiness and prosperity!

Festive wishes,
V

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Ur faral pics surely look interesting..besides keep up the excllnt job of blogng..

Aditya Khatkhate said...

hey V... awesome blog... and awesome faral yaar...! :) sahich distoy.. :) nakkich u made na..??? but good blog.. yeah, being awaty from home this is the only way of feeling at home... :)

Vinaya said...

Vaishali, aadi
thanks so much both of you!!aadi, faraal is meech banavlela..btw, even i couldnt believe!!

Ashwini said...

Diwalichey Faraal, sigh!! Tondaat paani alaa..:) I miss the gharghuti Laxmi pooja, anyways this "missing home factor" helps us appreciate things in a better night, nice post!