A token of love and gratitude

As people prepare for ‘Deepavali’ and the oncoming celebrations, they quickly rush to the sweet stores to place last-minute orders for heaps of sweets and other knick-knacks that will go into goody bags. 

    This is that time of the year when families, friends and businesses are on their toes, buying and selling as many gifts as possible, before the festivities end. For Tabi Sharma and her family, ‘Deepavali’ is one of the biggest festivals of the year and they love celebrating it. She says that they start the festivities by giving the house a thorough makeover. 

   According to her, the gifting happens only before and after ‘Deepavali’. “On October 24 we have a three-hour long ‘puja’ so we distribute gifts before or after that day. We give ‘diyas’, sweets like ‘kaju katli’ and ‘ladoos’, crackers and chocolates for the kids. They are all packed together and depending on the family, we give the gift. But for the past few years, we have stopped taking so much of an effort,” she says. 

Gifting sweets during ‘Deepavali’ is a tradition for most families. Samarjeet Ghosh, who hails from Assam, says, “In Assam, it is tradition to give ‘diyas’ to your family but you don’t get those kinds of ‘diyas’ in Bangalore so we just give sweets and crackers. It is a ‘Deepavali’ tradition to give something and we like to follow that.”  

Straying away from the so-called ‘traditional’ line, Dhirendra likes to gift his family and close ones accessories, watches, mobile phones, toys and more. “It is part of our culture to clean the house and buy the family something new. The elders usually get new clothes,” he says. 

Some families have decided to add a personal touch to the whole affair. “I am making a lot of sweet and savoury items like ‘Mysore pak’, kobbari mitai’, ribbon muruku and ‘mullu muruku’ for my family and friends. Handmade gifts have a more personal touch to them because they are the labour of love. And they also remind me of the olden times when my family would make the food as a joint venture,” says Sujatha Ramachandran, whose gifts have received a warm response with everyone.
  
She adds that she has also made a ‘leha’ from a variety of herbs and spices to help the body digest all the junk that it will be consuming during ‘Deepavali’. Even business are all prepped for the festive season. Seema, founder of ‘Kitschdii’, says they have a whole range of items designed just for ‘Deepavali’.
    “‘Deepavali’ and Christmas are two of our biggest festivals. We have been preparing six months in advance for this. It is one of the biggest festivals in India where people go all-out and spend. So it is an exciting time for us. We have something for everyone this time!,” she wraps up.