Celebrating Diwali - then and now in ashah's Blog

I'm nostalgic, writing about Diwali on Facebook. Its triggered many childhood moments. While growing up, Diwali was the biggest celebration of the year, much like Christmas here. My father had 3 brothers, and all our families would get together at my grandparent's house in Ahmedabad (in the state of Gujarat). We lived in Mumbai, so this was a fun vacation with overnight train travel. Including us, there were 20 people staying in the house, and it was tremendous fun - us kids played, while the moms cooked tons of sweets and snacks which are synonymous with Diwali. The dads, meanwhile, would chill, catch up and play cards (Bridge, mostly). All of us would participate in the evening tradition... more >