Light Years

Chordia,81,who moved into this house less than a decade ago,after spending 40 years in Agra,recalls the many Diwalis of his childhood,many worlds away,in Udaipur. It was a small town then,just 30,000 people,and most people knew everyone, he says. My father was a professor of literature and he and my mama maternal uncle were honoured members of the Darbar of Maharana Bhupal Singh,ruler of the then kingdom of Mewar,so they used to go there,fittingly clad,in royal attire. See,thats my mama, he adds,pointing at the portrait of a man in a stately silken angarkha and dress turban on the wall. Really,nana,no way! exclaims his grandson,Yajur,20.  

The ladies of the house would prepare food, continues Chordia,and then they would dress very well,they would put on heavy ornaments,do a Lakshmi puja,and put out oil lamps not those electric ones you see nowadays. This could be between 20 lamps to thousands in big havelis. It all depended on your social status. No crackers were burst,except on Holi,which used to be very noisy. Bohra traders would bring clothes and bangles a few days in advance,so the ladies of the house could be decked out in style,and they too would drop by to visit the house,resplendent in its annual coat of whitewash,on Diwali.

Other than that,festive shopping,says Chordia,was restricted to silver utensils and the ingredients bought for the sweets: laddu,jalebi,extra-special Diwali kheer,and the since-forgotten chandrakala and balushahi. But many cauldronfuls of ingredients went into these preparations,what with the multiple families,relatives,and friends who dropped by. Says Asha,71,Chordias wife,who grew up in Ajmer,My father was a public figure,the municipal president and president of the Lions Club,so we had many,many visitors. My mother couldnt cope up; so we used to make a halwai come home,sit and cook! 

Ruchira Mittal,40,the eldest of the Chordias three daughters,is a Ghaziabad-based TV tarot reader and writer. She has equally fond memories of the Diwalis spent as a child in Agra. We used to love scrounging around in our grandmas trunk for satin lehngas and heavy silver antique jewellery, Mittal says,lighting up with the recollection. Hauling about in her spoils was less than comfortable,though. The heavy anklets used to dig into my skin,so I had to constantly jump up while I lit diyas, she says,laughing. Theres a saying in small towns: A lady wont be able to pick up a bucket,but will happily wear her own weight in gold!

While the Diwalis of her and her sisters childhoods is suffused with a nostalgic glow,she wonders if the festival which her two Ghaziabad-born-and-bred children experience can ever match up. Mittal says,Then,it was about bonhomie and warmth,with family and friends getting together; now,theres too much traffic if you have to visit anyone. Then,it was about the true sense of prosperity; now its too commercial,seen more as a time for networking and PR,giving gifts to business associates… And getting bulk SMSes about new offers on your phone, chimes in son Yajur. Companies just wait for this season so they can announce new offers.  

A few years ago,when he was in school,hed argue eloquently in debates,about how everybody must be eco-friendly and boycott firecrackers. And then promptly begin a game of pataka brinkmanship with his pals at DPS Ghaziabad. Id tell them,proudly,that I got Rs 6,000 worth of ladis,and theyd say,I got Rs 10,000! While all that bores him now,some of his friends have found newer,more disruptive ways to get into the festive spirit. They sit in cars,and throw lit crackers at those who pass by, he says. Now you also get this gun, adds his sister,Nandini,You pull a trigger,and a rocket flies out.  

For them,Diwali shopping is as mundane and magic-less as a trip to a nearby mall where,this year,Yajurs mother got him a nice big watch followed up by another,to the market,for sweets and dry fruits.

Its good to see them in Indian clothes,because they wear western clothes the rest of the year, says Mittal. But other than that,I would not buy them anything special on Diwali. Theyre buying things all year round anyway! 

One thing thats new,Yajur reckons,is the popularity of gambling. People are more outgoing now,so thats the party now. The senior Chordia corrects him,Gambling is old, he says. It started with the tradition of keeping a lamp lit through the night to keep awake,you had to do something. So,while somebody kept watch,everybody played teen patti and kodi throwing out seven shells and predicting how many would land face-down or face-up.

That,at least,has not changed. Elders still always know better.