Tennis and Deepavali..

First of all-Wishing you all a very Happy and Fun-filled Deepavali. Most of us have wonderful and fond memories of our younger days when Deepvali was celebrated with so much purity and passion. Nobody had to wake us up early. We were there in full vigor at 4 am or 5 am opening our boxes of firecrackers with so much excitement. Will our children ever feel that thrill? Sadly, a simple thrill of binging on sweets, wearing new clothes or lighting up one of those totally loud sounding crackers is, probably a thing of the past.

But then I am hoping, by recollecting these memories and showing my child how we relished these times, she will,one day understand the true meaning of Deepavali.
In our household, when my Grandfather,K.G.S as he was called, was alive, Deepavali was THE day in the year we all looked forward to. The excitement began at least a month in advance when we started buying firecrackers. These had to be dried in hot sun for it to be ready to burst. The moms and aunts were busy planning the sweets and goodies they would be preparing for this occasion. Buying sweets outside was not even considered. When I say sweets, there would be at least 5-8 different kinds with the same amount of spicy snacks too. Just thinking about it makes me nauseous now and I cant even imagine eating that many goodies now..

The Day before deepavali, all cousins gathered in our house for a big meal. We would start bursting the crackers, but would save the special ones for the early morning bout. The new clothes were special too.
On the day itself, we would be awake at about 4 am. With just one bathroom and everyone cramming to take a bath, it was quite a ruckus. The bath itself was of religious significance as it had to be done before sunrise.

We could barely wait to get started with the crackers. There were flower pots, spin wheels, cable cars,rockets, all kinds of crackers to loud sounding bombs. In between, we would go back and forth on the sweets and treats.
After that , we would visit our relatives and get their blessings. There were three houses of relatives and we lived next to each other,so there were a lot of aunts and uncles to seek blessings from!!

But the cherry on top for us(my bro and I), was the tennis that followed this celebration. The entire town was closed down for the day. But since my dad maintained a tennis court just for our tennis, we could play whenever we wanted. We didnt own the court, my dad just maintained it. The clay courts needed to be watered and rolled 3-4 times a week. Playing tennis and working hard even on Deepavali was something I will always cherish in my life. When I read Agassi's book about how he trained extra hard on New Year's Day when most of the world is trying to reover from parties, I had an inkling to what he was writing about!!!

Someday, I hope my little girl will do the same or at least feel what I feel about Deepavali. This is a special day and even though we are in a country that may not expereince this in all its might, the Spirit of Deepavali is still there.