Celebrations 101: Deepavali Summary

Image source:

Something is not right with some people…

You know that people are taking the Deepavali celebrations less seriously these days when you turn on the TV on the first day of Deepavali and you find a show on Hari Raya on a government run TV channel – more the reason for not tuning to any government-run TV channels these days. It can look ridiculous and down right insulting. Raya was 3 days away and yet, some people decided that the first of Deepavali was not of any significant to show programs relating to Deepavali. Astro with channels 6 and 73 however had lined up enough programs to keep us entertain throughout the first and second days of Deepavali.

This was our first Deepavali in our new house and we wanted to celebrate it in a big way but since we have not shopped for furniture (due to constrain budget mostly); we opt not to have any open house for friends and family this year. That has to be postponed to next year.

The day started with the typical early morning bath and then the morning prayers. Those days when I was small, I recall being “rudely” woken up by my mother for the morning bath. It will be still dark on the outside and the water was cold. By the time we finish our morning bath, we would come out shivering in cold. The morning of Deepavali was truly a torture back then. If I was celebrating at my grandmother’s house, it is total different story. Hot bath at my convenient time is the preferred choice by my grandma (who by the way is still alive and recently celebrated the birth of her 3^rd great grandchild).

This year, my son actively joined in the prayers. He was in the thick of the action when my Dad started the prayers. Since he is “big boy” now, we allowed him to do his own prayers which he did in rather a cute way. He is learning fast from the adults at home.

Next was the breakfast which was rather simple but effective if you ask me – hot thosai with chicken curry and coconut chutney. By that time, my son was already in his new Deepavali clothes and hand firming holding 2 packets of “ang-pows” from my sister and brother. Deepavali celebration was truly the best for children but for us adults, it was another day to rest. We opted out from visiting friends and family on the first & second day of Deepavali this year as there was still things to do at home and some of the relatives have decided to travel outstation (to escape the haze).

The only other avenue was to switch on the television and see what the TV channels have lined up for Deepavali. Watching Tamil movies on Deepavali does not have the same anticipation that we used to have those days before Astro came about. Most of the shows shown on the TV gave that “we have seen something like this before” feeling to all of us at home.

So, to kill time, we went out to do our shopping for a new dining table and book-shelf. We saw real good ones at a bargain price at the furniture mall in Puchong. I have been buying those thick science fiction and thriller novels over the years and always wanted to have a specialized book shelf to place them – a mini library sort of. We were not surprised to see a large number of Indians and Malays at the furniture mall – most doing last minute shopping to spruce up their houses for the celebrations.

Deepavali celebrations this year was indeed boring but since it fell on non working days (Saturday and Sunday), it was just a normal Saturday and Sunday for most of us. On Monday, we were back to work as usual. The traffic was superb – not many cars at all. My colleagues were surprised to see me at the office but they too agreed that having the holidays too close to each other, sometimes coming back to work is a relief in a way.

Del.icio.us Tag: Event