24/10/2014

24/10/2014; 03:43:


And, Happy Diwali, everyone!!
The build-up to Diwali began a little before the 22nd, when we made plans for the 22nd! There was a three-day break lined up from the 22nd to the 24th; a lot of people made good use of this opportunity and spent Diwali at home.

After a meeting the previous night, I was woken up at mid-day to put out plan into action. We were to visit an Old Age Home in Indore, in order to share the joy of Diwali with the residents. A bus was scheduled to leave at 1:00 p.m. Usually, there are more seats in the bus than people willing to go, but, this time around, there was one bus and loads of people. The first instalment of people was sent on this bus- the guys who were to perform and everything- and a second bus was soon arranged for the rest of us. We reached Aastha Vradhaasram at around 2:30 p.m. All the creative ladies got to work on a rather beautiful rangoli. Some people immediately set off to interact with the senior citizens, sharing stories and life histories. Others, the performing & organizing teams went about, arranging their guitars, music system, sweets that were to be distributed and handing over the monetary contribution ( and a carom board!) that had been raised back home at IIM-Indore to the managing committee of the trust. I walked around, watching the set-up guys at work, admiring the handiwork of the rangoli ladies and smiling and greeting everyone I came across. My friend and I walked into the ladies’ residence, for the interaction team seemed to have missed that, smiling & gossiping. We then settled down to play carom with one very talkative uncle and his friend.

At around 3:30, a large troupe of enthusiastic senior citizens trooped into the main hall, where the performance guys were all ready and waiting. They began with singing a few rather emotional songs, followed that up with dances to a few trendy numbers, added another song and closed with a very well-received old number. Sweets were then distributed to everyone, while we sat around in groups, talking & sharing laughs. One uncle spent a considerable amount of time reciting shaayaris- the crowd around him kept growing! He brought his performance to a close with a ghazal!!
A few of our kids had gotten really sentimental, were missing long-gone grandparents and had begun to weep. Of course, all the love pouring in from the new ‘nanis’ and ‘dadis’ we’d found solved all that. In the middle of all this, the press made an appearance- and insisted on clicking photographs in the oddest of poses- an old lady playing the guitar and a group of them staring at the rangoli- all while the (well-dressed!) kids were made to stand around and watch!
Shruti had complained about the press coming in, even the day earlier! She felt like it made the whole effort seem like it was done only to draw publicity. And since that was not our aim, anything which projected it that way was a strict no. Of course, I had to explain that no press meant that my Media Comm. would be rendered redundant! And, well, since she hadn’t voiced her opinions loud enough, the press was welcome!
Blessings, smiles and reluctance later, we were on our way – some on their way straight back to campus and others, like me, on their way to roam around.
I ended up in the food court on the top-floor of Malhar Mall, eating Honey Chilli Potatoes from my usual shop. They now recognize me as the ‘honey-chilli-potato-lady’. Well, at least it saves me the effort of choosing and placing an order! I was then in More, shopping.

Back on campus, a stall selling diyas had been set-up outside the Pi Shop by the i-Help volunteers. The diyas had been painted by the kids that the i-Help volunteers teach. All proceeds from the sale are to go to Goonj, to the aid of the Jammu & Kashmir Flood victims. i-Helps’ earlier initiative- the Daan Utsav had managed to help raise almost 50,000 rupees for the same cause.

Once I was back on campus, write-ups and accompanying pictures were sent to a couple of newspapers who hadn’t turned up at the event. Our first press release since taking over the IPM Media Comm! We then played Volleyball, before turning our attention to Basketball practice. We only played for a short while, since a lot of the team members were out, celebrating Diwali with family. We decided to take a shortcut on our way back from the Basketball court to our hostel. Since construction is underway, we encountered a couple of pits. Now, none of our members were lost in transportation, but, 3 of our 5 Basketballs found their way to the bottom of 2 pits. Annoyed, snickering, surprised, we made a mental note to return in the morning to rescue them and went on our merry way.

We ended up outside the main mess, where 3 of our fellow IPM girls were at work, making a beautiful rangoli. We wandered into the night mess and ate a couple of paneer parathas. I then walked around the rangoli, feeding the now 4 ladies at work, since one of our team-mates had joined in!
Once back in the hostel, we spent some time, ‘chilling’.

I woke up late in the afternoon and it was Diwali! We then headed to the first event lined up as part of the Diwali celebration on campus- Diya painting at Mess 2. While everyone was hard at work, meticulously painting diyas in an array of colours and adding designs, I picked one up and painted it bright neon pink. And, it looked beautiful; it stood out alright.
I then made my way to the Pi shop where Rangoli making was in progress. I joined in, trying my hand at something I’d clearly not done any of, before. I was then hungry. We poked the food court at Mess 2, where we were informed that no food would be available till 7:30 p.m. We hung around, ate chicken curry and parrota and then walked up to our hostel where a few of my friends took it upon themselves to get me better dressed for the occasion than the T-shirt & shorts I was in. A new kurti, which was a recent birthday gift, was unearthed and new earrings off of a recent Kashmir trip emerged as well. Once the new look was approved, we made our way to the mandir, to join in the Diwali Pooja.
At around 9:00 p.m., arrangements were in full swing, on the football field. A music system and speakers were in place, blaring dance tracks! I spent half an hour, trying to get someone to join me, dancing, but, gave up, after an entirely failed enterprise. By 10:00 p.m., crackers were being burst, a bonfire was lit and sky-lanterns were floated.
A little gossiping and a lot of selfies later, Diwali night drew to a close.
And, it’s now light outside. Since we forgot to go looking for the Basketballs, courtesy Diwali, we shall be off now! Here’s hoping for success!