Even though this is a delayed Diwali post, the essence of the festival still hasn’t left me. We celebrated this on the 14th of november this year. Diwali truly is an amazing festival where all family and friends come together and celebrate. This year, obviously it was different but memorable nonetheless. I helped around the house to decorate, light the diya’s, put up some festive lights and ate the delicious Indian food made by my mom. We also decorated the house with fresh flowers because that is a tradition followed by almost every Indian household during Diwali. We started off the celebrations in the evening by praying and singing songs dedicated to the hindu gods, asking for their blessings. My mom is always the lead singer but the rest of us always join in.
The prayers are always followed by decorating the house with Diya’s and candles. We put Diya’s around the house starting from the front door and the living room and all the balconies. We do this to mark the return of Lord Ram. On Diwali, he returned to is home Ayodhya after years of banishment and all the neighboring villages including the palace lit up the path with Diya’s to welcome him, his wife and brother back. Even till today, all Hindu households follow this tradition many even follow it till days later to honor his return and for him to bless the household. This is why we call this day “The festival of lights”.
I wanted to be more creative this Diwali and even on the previous festival of Karwa chauth where I did Henna for my my mom’s friend and her. I decided to do some photography, Photography has always been a hobby of mine and even though I don’t own any camera equipment or a proper camera, I don’t mind using my phone! I think it makes the process even more intersting. Photography is always therapeutic for me because it gives you an opportunity to capture a moment and keep it forever. Generally, photographers try to tell a story through their pictures and sometimes their photography is purely for the aesthetics. This time for me, it was a mix of both! Here are a few photos of lighting the diya’s and my photography for my mom and her friend during Karwa Chauth as well!
