Diwali with a Difference

Light the spark of festivities, spread the joy!

A different Diwali, that captured the true Spirit

I had a most unusual Diwali season last year. The celebration was unusual, and the warmth was special.

It started with a innocuous comment from my coworker when they announced our office Diwali party. She said she had always wanted to dress up like an Indian but didn’t want to offend others. Also, buying sarees, draping them, the complicated jewelry etc. seemed so hard and exhausting.

And of course I jumped in, without thinking, head first and offered to do all the heavy lifting — from finding them clothes, jewels, accessories to actually dressing them on that day. Before I knew it I was drowning and wondering why I always seem to get myself into overwhelming situations. Every single woman wanted a saree. They had color choices and opinions. Once they understood different textiles and borders and the work possible, things got really complicated, really quickly. I created spreadsheets, setup meetings to review the choices, gave instructions on blouses, pins, the right footwear, choices of jewels and this was a full blown side project.

I stuffed 4 saree bags with about 35 to 40 of my sarees and went to the office. We spread it on the conference room table and I let them touch, drape and exclaim over my loot. Their oohs and aahs and omg’s were…