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Diwali is my most favourite and enjoyable festival, because it is a festival of lights, of bright lamps and bursting crackers. I would wait for days for it. And when my wait is over and Diwali arrives, I would naturally be excited.

Diwali is one of those festivals which everyone loves to celebrate- the lights and the fireworks are all just classic, but do you know what it all means?

It was the year 2012 Diwali. We were in India at that time. We went to our grand parents’ place ‘Tenali’ for Diwali holidays. We celebrated for 3 days.

My most memorable Diwali celebration was in India. I celebrated with my maternal and paternal grandparents, my maternal and paternal uncles and their families, my parents, younger brother and sister. A big family get together.

There was always a time in life when we eagerly looked forward to something. Arrival of a favourite relative, release of a movie starring favourite lead, or holiday to a favourite place. Among multitude of fairs and festivals on the Hindu calendar, Diwali was always that part of the year we waited for, for its vibrancy and uniqueness, immensely and primarily fascinated with the prospect of fireworks. After all, no other festival is so illuminating and has celebratory reasons linking two Yugas, i.e. arrival of Rama in Tretayug and slaying of the demon Narakasura in Dwaparyug millennia later.

From food to parties and crackers to clothes, there is no dearth of nostalgic elements when it comes to celebrating Diwali in the UK. Why do I still want to go back to India?

In our family Diwali is one of the most important and one of my favourite festivals.  In our Hindu religion, it is also famous as a festival. We celebrate it by burning crackers and lighting diyas in the house.

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