Happy Diwali 2021: 8 Childhood memories that will make you nostalgic

Diwali is one of the most awaited festivals for most of us living in India. The annual house cleaning drive, shopping for home decor, dressing up the house with flowers and lights, and dressing up in the finest, Diwali holds a special place in our childhood memories. We spoke to 10 people who shared Diwali memories that are etched in their minds forever.

A week before Diwali, I remember as a family we all used to pick up dusting cloths and brooms and dust every tiny little corner of the house. Not only that, all our cabinets were emptied and set in proper order. Now we have maids and cleaning services to tidy our houses but I still miss the times when the whole family got together to make the house Diwali ready.

As a child, the most exciting part about Diwali for me was the shopping drive in Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar. We bought the fanciest of decor hangings and the best of diyas. I remember how my mom never said no to whatever I picked. Carrying those heavy bags of decor home to deck it all up used to give me an adrenaline rush. I miss it so much!

Every Diwali, both me and my sister helped our mom put oil in diyas and then put them in a line all across the border of our balcony and mandir room. After the pooja, we used to light them all up and see the whole house brighten up with lights!

Every year before Diwali, I helped my mom make our traditional besan ki mithai. I used to accompany her in shopping for ingredients and then we would carefully measure them all and put it in a big kadhai for simmering in the wok. Once ready, my mom poured it in plates - and I finished off the remaining mixture from the wok, to the last morsel. I wish I get to do that all over again!

Now we all are becoming conscious about the pollution caused by the bursting of crackers but back then we never bothered. In fact all neighbourhood kids used to get together and we used to challenge each other who’d burst better and louder crackers. The haze created by the crackers used to feel so exciting!

As a child, I remember competing with my cousins on who will make the best Diwali diya designs. It was a fun activity and something that we cousins still discuss about whenever we meet. Most of us are now far away from home but these precious memories and their pictures keep our spirits high.

Any festival and at most Diwali is incomplete without binging on meetha. Every Diwali, our dining table was full of mithais of different varieties. From kaju katli, milk cake, kalakand, chenna murgi, gulab jamun, rasgulla, there was no end to the variety and we never bothered about our calorie intake back then. Sadly, we do now!

We used to look forward to Diwali every year because of the huge number of gifts that we received. From relatives, neighbours to uncles and aunties, everyone who came to wish us got gift boxes. Our mom reprimanded us on most Diwali because we used to get so desperate to see the guests leave, just so we could open those boxes to see its content.