Diwali, the festival of lights, is here. The streets in India are all decked up with beautiful lights and one can smell happiness and joy in the air. The horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic seem to have been relegated to the background.
The marketplaces are full of enthusiastic shoppers looking for the best deals for their homes, wardrobe and for gifting too. The mithai (sweet) shops are seeing long queues of people making their purchases of kaju katli, anjeer barfi, nariyal barfi, chandrakala, boxes of neatly arranged dry fruits and, of course, chocolates.
Home chefs are busy in packing their orders of traditional sweets, chocolates, cookies, caramelised dry fruits and not to mention low-calorie sweets in different colourful boxes. Keeping in sync with changing times, fusion sweets like gulab jamun cheesecake, brownie barfi bites and orange shahi tukda canapes are also gaining popularity among the rich.
The overall mood in Diwali 2022 is buoyant and people are all ready to celebrate the festival with joy and a sense of hope for a brighter tomorrow.
According to the Hindu calendar, Diwali or Deepawali is celebrated on the 15th day in the month of Kartik and this year this beautiful festival of lights will be celebrated on October 24.
Diwali is all about celebrating India’s rich heritage. It is all about celebrating the festival with one’s loved ones and also sharing a slice of life and joy with the community. Even though Diwali is celebrated in varied ways in different parts of India, the essence of the festival remains the same in spirit.
From little earthen lamps, candles in different sizes and shapes, fairy lights, intricate rangoli and kolam designs in bright colours—you seem them all. It is also believed that the lighting of diya signifies the triumph of good over evil and to look beyond the darkness of life which comes at different times and to embrace light in moments of adversity.
Diwali is all about celebrating life and sharing that happiness with people all around you. It has also been a community festival which sees people sharing sweets, gifts and in general celebrating a feeling of togetherness.
For Hindus in Northern India, Diwali symbolises the return of Lord Ram with his wife Sita and brother Laxman to Ayodhya after being exiled for 14 years. On his return, Ram was welcomed home with diyas and fireworks and the entire kingdom wore a bright happy look and to also beat the darkness as it was a new moon day in the month of Kartik season.
In the eastern state of Odisha, Diwali celebration is also about paying respects to one’s ancestors as family members gather and invite the ancestors to visit on the auspicious occasion (requesting the ancestors to come in darkness but go back in light) and bless the family members.
In Western India Diwali is mostly associated with business and trade and worshiping of Lakshmi. Diwali is also the time which sees the beginning of new ventures, buying of properties, the opening of offices and shops. In Gujarat, Diwali celebrations are followed by welcoming the Gujarati New Year known as Bestu Varas.
In South India, Diwali is celebrated in the Tamil month of aipasi where Naraka Chaturdashi is the main day of the celebrations. The houses are decorated with beautiful kolam designs. After the oil bath, people wear new clothes and firecrackers are burst.
This year, the market is in a happy space and all set to bounce back after the lull it experienced in the last two years. The Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in a recent statement said it expects 60 per cent business growth for traders and retailers this year’s Diwali season in comparison to last year’s season. CAIT had last year reported festive sales worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore last year.
Taking a stock of the purchasing trends in the early festival season, the statement also mentioned that during Navratri from 26 September to 5 October, about 12 per cent growth in FMCG products, 15 per cent in consumer durables, about 20 per cent in electronics, about 10 per cent in mobiles, grocery around 20 per cent, toys about 15 per cent, etc., was registered.
As digital shopping takes a massive upsurge in India, according to a top consulting agency, e-commerce sales during the festive season are likely to be around $11.8 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), up 28% year-on-year.
The travel industry is also in an upbeat mood as the days of darkness are over for this industry which saw massive losses during the pandemic. Hotels in major tourist places of India are all full and the flight tickets to Tier Two cities like Coimbatur, Raipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Udaipur and Mysore have seen a massive rise in both numbers and prices too.
On a more brighter side, there are also many youngsters who have given a new meaning to Diwali celebrations by choosing to have a Green Diwali and sharing the joy of the festivals with those who are less-privileged. As Gopi Jadeja, a young professional based in Ahmedabad says, “I have stopped bursting firecrackers for the last three years. I use that money to feed stray dogs and I also visit an old-age home to distribute sweets on Diwali day. We share lots of fun ways of celebrating Green Diwali on social media and on WhatsApp groups. This constant engagement and conversations has resulted in many of my peer group to stay away from crackers and celebrate Diwali in more meaningful ways.”
Swati S, a Bengaluru-based consultant will be celebrating the festival in a silent retreat in Coorg. “I just want to celebrate the light within myself. I will be spending the day doing meditation, making beautiful flower mandalas and just reflecting on my life and thoughts,” she says.
In the end, the ways of celebrations might differ from person to person and from community to community, but the spirit of the festival is all that matters. Here’s wishing a very Happy Diwali.
Deepika Sahu has been a journalist for 27 years and she has worked with some of India’s leading media houses. Right now, she is independently engaged in content creation and curation. Twitter: @menondeepika | Instagram: @moodydeepika | Facebook: Deepika Sahu
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