This is why I love Deepavali!

Alright let’s face it, this is the time of the year we see all those heart-wrenching Deepavali advertisements and articles telling us about the origins of Deepavali and why Deepavali is an important and auspicious festival for the Indians. I am sure most of you have an idea how Deepavali works, so there’s none of those run-of-the-mill generic Deepavali stories here. In fact, I plan to give you a ‘true’ account of a young Indian’s experience of celebrating Deepavali, and why we do certain things we do.

First of all, you know the Indian girls (or boys, maybe, in some households?) who help their mothers make murukku and cookies for Deepavali? Yeah well, they do not enjoy making it very much at all, I can tell you that for sure. Imagine sitting in the kitchen with woks filled with hot oil and squeezing out the murukku dough from the murukku maker for 3 hours in a row… it can get monotonous at times, you know. Fortunately, most of us are smart enough to steal a few and eat them while in the process of making a new batch! Yummy!

Next comes my favourite part: shopping for Deepavali! I love shopping at Jalan Masjid India, precisely because it has a certain glow to it come festive time. I love the way the vendors lay out their wares and the way my mum bargains, quoting impossibly low prices for expensive looking Punjabi suits and sarees. Deepavali shopping is my lottery time, because I am the only girl in the family, so my mum gets me two, sometimes even three or four, suits to wear for the festival, compared to my brothers who get one each. Advantages of being a girl… hah!

Every year, for Deepavali we go back to Taiping to celebrate with my father’s brothers and cousins. To me, the trip back is almost like climbing into a time-machine and being blasted into the past. Taiping, with its old school charm and laid-back attitude, with its bicycle-riding folks and waterfalls right beside the housing estates… In my opinion, Taiping is the best place in Malaysia to visit, just for relaxation purposes. Taiping also means family, as a portion of my father’s family still reside there. Of course who can forget the heavenly, and dirt cheap, hawker food? It’s like stepping into paradise… too bad Deepavali is not an all-year round activity.

How can I leave out the rituals we practice? Sometimes I wonder if these practices will cease to exist during my children’s time. I like the fact that the day before Deepavali, we have a subdued moment of prayer for those who have passed on, and we stay vegetarian for the day. Somehow, to me, it feels like a cleansing process before the mega food feast Deepavali brings. The oil baths we have, the laziness to wake up early Deepavali morning, the abundance of ‘thosai,’ ‘idly’ and chicken curry topped with coconut chutney for Deepavali breakfast, the money packets, the blessings given and received… I really hope Deepavali in 10 years would be the same as it is today.

For my family, Deepavali is only about culture and tradition. We had a Michael Jackson dance competitions between family members and  went parasailing this year, and you know, sometimes we give the resident cooks a break too (though not as often as they would like… heh). My memories of Deepavali, however, are filled with love and happiness, and that is the most important and satisfying part.

A small disclaimer: all the experiences here involve me, so do not even think of suing me for typing this one out!