diwali – at home :)
unlike last time this time, i decided to come home during the pseudo eight day diwali holidays (kudos to CR shwetabh for arranging for the two off days to make it a total of 8 days in july itself) … last year the hostel was absolutely empty and everyone from my wing had gone home… although, i ended up having quite a unique and beautiful diwali – online 
– with him…
the two of us hadn’t gone home last time and decided to be together the entire evening since we anyway had nowhere to go and thought that as our first diwali together, we’d make it a special one… i remember, wearing a salwaar kameez and carrying the lappie to the comp room of the hostel because my room’s lanport was screwed up… and since 7 in the evening, after lighting diyas outside my room, till i think maybe 12 30, we chatted… and it was so beautiful… it was so different from a diwali i’d know all my life… the rituals were missing but what i discovered was a sense of togetherness and truly appreciated the fact that diwali with your loved ones is the most special one… true i was away from my parents, but the online diwali was very beautiful – our first diwali and i’ll never forget that evening…
but now that this time i was home, i planned to make up for the unfinished rituals of last time… we bought 108 diyas and this big one that you see… on its left are ‘lokkhi’r pa‘ or goddess lakshmi’s feet, as made in traditional bengali rangoli or alpona… the flowers are by me; lokkhi’r pa by ma… the whole thing is at the entrance to our flat where i’ve spend 12 years of my life and refuse my parents’ request to let them move to other places because i will have no friends there…
well, just like always, baba and i bought prodip or diyas… washed them, sundried them, poured oil, made sholte, and placed them on the balcony sills… 
as usual realised that the wind one side was stronger than the other side and not one prodip survived on the windy side…
anyway, later we went downstairs – and it was the reunion of the anti-cracker group : ana and me anti cracker duo rather 
but this time, there was a significant decrease in the number of cracker bursters… seeing the rockets go off, stung me… had chatted with him before coming downstairs and i wished so badly that i was spending it online with him like last time…
went to kalibari with debu uncle and sukanya auntie afterwards… missed out on the aloo’r chop 
but had feasted on chicken biryani earlier that ma had made
but i did make up for diwali with him later… i came back around 11 to find that his mood had completely changed and he’d had maggi for dinner and had had subhojit over for company… we talked like last time and it was so beautiful…
in a sense, i managed to be with the people i loved the most – my parents and him… it was a different diwali this time… last night was wonderful and evening with my parents too…
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