For them,Diwali passes in a flash at the workplace

“If my mother was still alive,I don’t think she would let me work during the festival. I have become used to such things,but I regret my son did not get to see how we celebrate Diwali in Wankaner with the whole family,” said Jitendra,a native of the town in Rajkot district who,with his wife and three-year-old son Jainam,planned to celebrate in Gandhinagar,their present residence.

“Weekend got over before I could react to it,” texted Smit Shah (another employee who lives in Ahmedabad) one Monday morning,10 days to go before the big day. “Food,decoration,travelling,shopping and the vibrancy of the occasion is too hard to resist. Best time of the year,I guess.”

For Smit,his current timing (12 noon to 10 pm) is a cakewalk compared to his earlier stints at firms with American clients where he did “graveyard shifts”. “I don’t remember a single festival for about three years. A greeting SMS or an email would make me realize it’s a festival and say,‘Oh! It’s Diwali!’ or ‘Oh!It’s Navratri!’,” Smit recalls.

Kruti Kothari,Smit’s and Jitendra’s colleague,remembers Navratri as a rush home,a quick change into her chanya cholis and heading for the garba venue.

For Jitendra,Navratri may well have been a weekend festival since he doesn’t get to reach home in time. His young wife hates to miss the garba but makes do with the weekend ones,while Jitendra does try to reach home in time to drive around town with Jainam to at least see the festivities.

This Diwali,his entire family celebrated in Wankaner. “My brother will record the celebrations and send it to me in a DVD. Jainam will have to contend himself with that this year,” he said.