Hear These Entrepreneurs Share their Childhood Memories of Diwali
Diwali is the most celebrated festival in India and even today everyone celebrates this occasion keeping all the traditions in mind.
Though most of us today have busy schedules and extensive work load on our heads, we manage to juggle between work and home to light diyas (lamps), make rangolis and prepare our delicacies during the festival. We at Entrepreneur India asked entrepreneurs to share memories of this festival from childhood.
Sachin Jaiswal, CEO, niki.ai : “For me, childhood Diwali celebrations were about having a family get together and spending quality time with my closed ones. We continue this ritual in our company too. Niki team is a family, and we celebrate Diwali together in the office, with sweets, snacks, games and laughter.”
CLIO Retail Founder Hema Vinothini
Back in the 90’s, Diwali was one big festival. In some ways it still is but the magnitude is much lesser. You can blame our busy lives, visiting our relatives are replaced with Facebook wishes , whatsapp forwards & Tweets. I still remember the excitement we had when we bought our new dresses for Diwali, surfing all the shops much satisfying than online shopping. During that period Deepavali is synonymous with movie releases and TV programs .Booking First day show for Rajnikanth s movie was epic With Rajinikanth and Kamalhassan battling for supremacy. The another traditional part was our mother waking us up at the wee hours in the morning to take oil bath.For the entire week before Diwali, my mother assembled all the sugar and ghee to make a mountain load of sweets and Kai Murukku (south indian savories)for us and to be shared with family and friends.
In short Diwali meant the following things – crackers, sweets, and new movie releases.Bursting 10000 walas back then was a matter of cheap pride and thrill .But nothing can hold a candle to what it was back then, I miss it all. A lot.
Talking about the cultural nuances, CEO of Newspatrolling, Pankaj Bansal said “For our families, Diwali, in my childhood days, was a lot about socializing. Relatives, friends and acquaintances from the city and neighborhood used to come together to exchange Diwali greetings and have fun lighting diyas, bursting crackers and gorging on tasty food. That culture still exists, but the involved numbers have come down, as a significant chunk has moved onto the web, instant messaging and social media platforms. I certainly miss the bonhomie and unrestrained, joyful celebrations of those days.”
Mr Rohit Pansari, Co-Founder, DoneThing linked his memories to the pristine glory of festival in the past and his gourmet experience. He said “Diwali has always been much more than just a festival, it has a taste of nostalgia. As children, we grew up celebrating Diwali at our ancestral home, where we would be reunited with cousins and extended family. The best memories I had was that of storytelling sessions by our grandfather, while the delicacies were being prepared and the house being decorated with sparkling diyas and rangolis. We looked forward to that break from school to enjoy week-long festivities. We would often have guests over during the week, and my mother would send me off with some money to get samosas and jalebis from the local sweet shop. I would save myself some extra money to buy some patakas on my way back. Life was so easy then. Now, Diwali is different. I have to worry about house cleaning, plan my week in advance if I am hosting a Diwali cards party, find a caterer, worry about dinner menu, plan the gifts to be exchanged and stock up the snacks to entertain unexpected guests.”
A childhood Diwali memory as shared by Mr. Digendra Singh Rathore, Co-Founder and CEO at Fella Homes – “Just like Lord Rama, Diwali was my homecoming; either from the boarding school or college. Catching up with my family relatives, childhood buddies after the Diwali Puja was an open opportunity that I sought every time and continue to do the same even today. Scrumptious Sweets. Caring Family. Gleaming Markets. Delightful Celebrations. Alluring Homes. Godly Love. This is my recipe to the happiest nostalgic moments of Diwali celebrations I had . Happy Diwali.”
Mr Gaurav Garg, Co-Founder, Kloseby says “Diwali during my childhood was like a fairy tale, where you could get all the good things you liked. Those were the times when we used to accompany our parents to buy clay diyas in hundreds along with sweets, firecrackers, decorations and other souvenirs. The energy was clearly evident, as our home used to buzz with various activities such as house cleaning & beautification, puja preparations, and welcoming and looking after guests. I always waited with great excitement to open the gifts that relatives and friends used to bring, and it was a very pleasurable experience. As school kids, we used to visit all our friends and teachers, which was great fun, especially when the Diwali treats were served. The days leading up to Diwali, the festivities, and then the days after that – everything put together makes a complete package that has no substitute.”
