On Deepavali, you are forced to get up at 4 AM. You sit on a wooden plank drawn with kolam. A spoon full of gingelly oil heated with black pepper, red chilly and betel leaf is applied on your scalp by the eldest female member with the singing of GOWRI KALYANAM VAIBOKAME.
Then you apply on the body, take bath, wear new dresses, do pranams to Lord and elders, swallow lehiyam and some snacks and sweets and go to fire the crackers till dawn. The first Deepavali I remember was in 1952 in Periakulam when I was 7.
I remember a freak incident that happened on Deepavali day. My parents with other children had gone to our maternal grandparent's house, leaving me with my paternal grandmother as an escort. They had given me Rs.7/ for purchase of crackers. New dresses were already made.
My grandmother told me not to waste the money on crackers which would ultimately become charcoal and advised me to give it to her and she would preserve it for me. I ignored her advice and purchased "Donkey" brand crackers, famous at that time, for the entire sum.
To ensure that none of the crackers failed, we kept it on top of the mud oven in the kitchen after the night dinner. Around 2 AM, there was a loud explosion and my grandmother woke me up saying Deepavali had dawned and advised me to take oil bath.
Suddenly, there was another loud explosion from the kitchen and we could not go near. We then remembered that we forgot to remove the crackers from the oven and in the heat, all the crackers got fired up and exploded. My grandmother was scolding at me all the time.
The entire kitchen was scattered with debris from the crackers, dislocated few vessels and spilled some food items. I was scared of my father also if she complained to him. I did not have anything to enjoy for Deepavali and sitting in the front yard, I was pathetically looking at my friends next door.
Then you apply on the body, take bath, wear new dresses, do pranams to Lord and elders, swallow lehiyam and some snacks and sweets and go to fire the crackers till dawn. The first Deepavali I remember was in 1952 in Periakulam when I was 7.
I remember a freak incident that happened on Deepavali day. My parents with other children had gone to our maternal grandparent's house, leaving me with my paternal grandmother as an escort. They had given me Rs.7/ for purchase of crackers. New dresses were already made.
My grandmother told me not to waste the money on crackers which would ultimately become charcoal and advised me to give it to her and she would preserve it for me. I ignored her advice and purchased "Donkey" brand crackers, famous at that time, for the entire sum.
To ensure that none of the crackers failed, we kept it on top of the mud oven in the kitchen after the night dinner. Around 2 AM, there was a loud explosion and my grandmother woke me up saying Deepavali had dawned and advised me to take oil bath.
Suddenly, there was another loud explosion from the kitchen and we could not go near. We then remembered that we forgot to remove the crackers from the oven and in the heat, all the crackers got fired up and exploded. My grandmother was scolding at me all the time.
The entire kitchen was scattered with debris from the crackers, dislocated few vessels and spilled some food items. I was scared of my father also if she complained to him. I did not have anything to enjoy for Deepavali and sitting in the front yard, I was pathetically looking at my friends next door.
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