This time around, I am celebrating Dipawali at Pune . Staying away from home for the last 9 years has made me quite aloof to festivals and they seems to have a negligible importance in my life.

However somewhere down my memory lanes, I still remember Dipawali for quite a few things....

21 days School Holidays: They are right on top of my priority list. I used to literally start counting day’s right from Ganesh Chaturthi and look forwards for these long 3 week holidays. Though the holiday did involve lots of homework but i guess it’s much better than a 1 day Corporate leave. As they say " Those were the fabulous dayz"...

The Demon King-Narkasur: In Goa, Diwali begins with the death of the Demon king called as Narkasur. Huge Effigies of the demon are burnt across the state, close to midnight on a day prior to Diwali. As a kid, I spend a considerable amount of my holidays building the demon king and later as I grew up, I spent the Diwali night goofing around with friends having some nice roadside Chinese dish and a cold mug of Beer...

Meeting All Near and Dear Ones: We spent our Diwali at our ancestral home in a small village called Loutolim in Goa. All the members of my extended family gather even today for a small and an unique ritual in the morning and later on have the Lakshmi Puja in the evening.

Over a period, i have understood that festivals aren’t just important to praying to the lord ( Ask for More..) but also play an important role to bond people together....

Wow...I have written a quite a bit now...And suddenly realized that I am nowhere close to being Aloof to these festivals....

So Happy Dipawali.....Wish u all ....Peace, Warmth and Lots of $$$$......