Diwali 2022: Mumbaikars excited to bring in the festival with homemade food, big celebrations

For Kadambari Salvi, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a visible change in her Diwali celebrations. While they used to shop for decorations for the house, her family now makes them at home. "Since decorations weren't available during the lockdown, we decided to make the lantern at home itself, apart from the other decorations," shares Salvi, who talks to us amid the hustle and bustle of the festival preparations. The eco-friendly lantern has been made from cloth and the diyas have been hand-painted.

Being a businesswoman herself, the Lalbaug resident believes in promoting and supporting other small vendors who also make eco-friendly products like her and has been leading by example. "We have been even giving our relatives all the mithai and ‘faral' in cardboard boxes instead of anything made of plastic and will continue to do that this year too," she adds.

Like Salvi, many Mumbaikars are happy to celebrate Diwali after two years of the pandemic. In fact, this year has shown how much people have been missing the spirit of enjoying festivities with their friends and extended family. While it was visible earlier this year with Makar Sankranti, it has also been seen with Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi and followed by Navratri and Dussehra. Celebrating Diwali is one of the most exciting times for Salvi, who is a lawyer-turned-businesswoman running ‘Rangeesh' an eco-friendly initiative that makes fashion and home décor items using cloth since 2018.

Of homemade food and decorations
She says, "The celebration is going to be double. All our relatives are going to be coming home to celebrate with us because we usually avoid going to the restaurant during Diwali." Even though her mother is a local politician with a busy schedule, Salvi says she manages to take the time out to make the ‘faral' for the occasion because they prefer homemade sweets over any other kind.

"We started making the sweets days in advance. Since my mother is busy, we start at 10 pm and end up making it till 4 am," she adds. This is not all as they not only put their own decorations, they have also created a decorative ‘selfie point' with lights and flowers on one wall of the house to click all their selfies after dressing up for the festival. Salvi also can't wait to give gifts to her close friends and relatives, as it has been a tradition of the family for as long as they can remember.

Finding community in celebrations
Elsewhere, Geetika Agarwal, a Delhi-based creative consultant, who was a former Mumbaikar till the Covid-19 pandemic hit, says she can't wait to celebrate the festival this year with her family and friends. The Delhi local tells us that growing up in the capital, the celebrations have always been big around her because it was momentous and with an air of anticipation. "Planning used to start a month in advance - who is hosting the party, what card party, when and how it is going to be celebrated."

However, the celebrations are going to be different now because it was very casual before she came to the maximum city. She attributes it to the fact that her friend's group is older this time and will be coming together literally for the first time after two years for a celebration. "It is going to mean more to us and have more significance since it is a given feature that we will meet up during Diwali and that is going to be finally happening", she explains as a tradition, unlike what it was in Mumbai.

The Delhi local, who was in the island city for little less than a decade, says Diwali celebrations used to be big when she was here. She explains, "I would usually host a party at my house for friends who don't usually celebrate Diwali with their family or for those who weren't from Mumbai and couldn't go home to celebrate. I used to decorate my house with candles and lights, we used to sit, eat and drink, play games and have a good time."

Agarwal fondly remembers her house-help making and sending over puran poli, or another friend who used to get marzipans for the festival, much before Christmas. Now that she is back in Delhi, it will be a delicious potluck, where her friends will all be making something for the party. While for many people the festival holds religious importance, it has always been different for Agarwal, who identifies as an agnostic. The 32-year-old says the festival is more of a community celebration bringing people together and this year is going to be no different, even though she has moved from Mumbai to Delhi.

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