Diwali celebrations
Things began to get better in from September onwards, with things beginning to ease out in California. Gyms and pools opened. My workouts were back on track and that brought a lot of sanity to my turbulent mind. (pun intended). I celebrated Navratri by participating in Navrun ( an initiative by MRR). For 9 continuous days, I worked out wearing 9 different colors.
Life went on as usual. October and half of November was a busy period as my MFA course got really demanding. I had loads of reading, writing and presentations to do. The good news is that I am already beginning to work on my fiction novel. I am hoping to finish it by the end of 2021. When Diwali weekend arrived, I couldn't wait to relax and unwind with my family. Now, we didn't really go out and celebrate with other people, keeping in mind that the pandemic was not over yet. Besides we didn't want to risk anything. So we decided to celebrate at home.
When I think back to my childhood years, Diwali was an occasion to show off my new clothes, burn crackers and devour all the sweets and savories made by mom. As I grew older, the interest in fireworks decreased. It was after I saw how petrified the animals were. The image of the terror in their eyes, crouching under the cars, was enough to make me give up this pleasure of mine. I didn't have the heart to indulge in activities that would frighten my four legged friends. Instead, I chose to light lamps instead .
The indulgence in sweets came down over time as I became more fitness conscious. It was tough, considering how I had an incurable sweet tooth at one point in time. Tough but not impossible. This year, I had decided to have just one sweet and give the rest to my daughter. I had gone an on strict diet regime and ended up burning 700-900 calories in a day. So I picked one piece of Gulab jamun and relished it. The sugary golden syrup melted down my throat and the taste lingered for hours. I was having an Indian sweet almost after 2 years. Even though there are plenty of Indian restaurants and sweet shops in the Bay Area.
New movie releases was another thing that I looked forward to during Diwali. My husband and I were discussing about how the quality of movies seem to deteriorate over the years. Watching this year's Diwali release, Akshay Kumar starrer Laxmii Bomb, reiterated our theory. The movie could have been edited and made into a much better product. To get over this disappointment, we decided to rewind back to the 90s and watch Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge. It was an ideal watch and easy on the mind. Especially since I have been reading a lot of intense books that demanded a lot of my intellectual space.
For those three hours, we were transported to the plush locales of Europe and relived our own trip back in 2015. It would be a while before we could visit again. The cascade of green spread over acres, the sound of cowbells and the tuffs of snow covered over the mountain like a blanket, made us develop stars in our eyes. While books transport you to places, the visual appeal of the cinematography was something else. The second half of the move was filmed in Punjab. We were greeted by the carpet of mustard plants, Indian rituals, song and dance sequences, emotional drama, typical of a Bollywood blockbuster. Nevertheless, it was entertaining.
I had watched this movie when I was in high school. At that time, I wondered if they could have edited this fight scene and blood shed at the end. Today when I watched that scene, I realize that it probably added authenticity to the movie. It was typical of boys from that region to indulge in violence and machoism, rather than give up things gracefully. The movie ended with that iconic train scene. After which our discussion began as it usually does after we watch a movie. Right from the performances of the star cast, to the dialogues, to the direction and the on screen chemistry of the lead pair, it was a good one hour banter. Later in the evening, we dressed up in our splendor, wished the family over zoom, posted on social media, lit lamps in our patio and enjoyed the winter evening outside.
Of course, no weekend is complete without my dose of reading. I finished reading Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The genius story tellers' ability to weave magical realism in his books was a perfect finish to a Diwali weekend.
In the meantime, its just a few more days, before I get a break for Thanksgiving. hoping to get lots more reading done and drive around the Bay Area.
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