Quick question. When was the last time your child woke up at 7 on a holiday without being called? Probably on the morning of Diwali cleaning. Strange, no? The same child who needs three alarms on a school day is suddenly up early, asking which room we are doing first.
Diwali this year is on Sunday, 8 November. A few days before that, every house in Bhopal will look like someone has shaken it. Sofa pushed to one side, curtains in the washing machine, a steel almirah open with half its stuff on the floor. Kids love this. Nobody really knows why.
The safai drama
Here is how it usually goes. Mummy says, “Sirf apna table saaf karo.” Ten minutes later your child is sitting on the floor holding a toy they last played with in Class 2, completely lost in it. Then the sorting starts. This one stays, this one goes to the bag for the maid’s daughter, this one is “mine, don’t touch.”
Nobody sat them down and told them to share. They just did it, a little reluctantly, because the bag was right there and the festival was in the air. That is how kids learn most things, honestly. Not from the speech, but from the bag standing in the corner.
The kitchen and the waiting
Some houses make everything at home, some order half of it and make a little to feel better. Either way there is a smell that arrives around Dhanteras and stays for a week. Ghee, elaichi, besan getting roasted slowly, because if you hurry it, it tastes raw. Your child will notice that. You cannot rush a laddoo.
Hand them a small katori of dry fruits to chop or a plate to arrange and let them mess it up. A broken gujiya is still a gujiya. And watch what happens at the end, when the first plate is covered with foil and sent next door. The child carrying it across the landing thinks it is a very important mission. Maybe it is.
Rangoli without the rules
There is always one parent who hovers over the rangoli. “Wahan nahi, yahan rang daalo, line seedhi rakho.” Please don’t. Give them the colours, give them the corner near the door, and walk away to make chai. It will come out crooked, with too much pink. The aunty next door will still say “waah, kitni sundar hai,” and your child will stand taller for the whole evening.
Later, when it is dark, let them light the first diya. Stand close with a matchbox in your hand, just in case, but let them do it. Their face in that moment is worth more than a perfect rangoli.
The evening nobody plans
After puja the real Diwali begins. The doorbell rings, then rings again. A relative you see once a year pinches the cheek of a child who is now too old for it. Someone’s grandfather tells the story of his first Diwali in a village with no electricity, the same story as last year, with slightly different details. Kids pretend to be bored, but they are listening. You can tell because they repeat the story to their friends after the holidays, usually with the wrong ending.
Try keeping the TV off, at least for an hour. Phones too. It is hard for us, not only for them.
About crackers, since we have to say it
We know children love them. We also know every year someone ends up in a hospital with a burn that was easy to avoid. So please keep a bucket of water nearby, light them in an open space, and stay right next to your child, not in the next room. No lit cracker in the hand, no matter how brave they say they are. Cotton clothes are better than flowing ones near diyas. If your child has asthma, keep them away from the smoke, because the air after Diwali is heavy in our city and it does not help. And please switch off those string lights before bed. They get hot.
Then everyone comes back to school
On the first day after the break, you will notice something. The children are tired, a little sleepy, but full of things to say. Who came home, who ate how many rasgullas, whose rangoli was destroyed by a stray cat. Let them say it all. Teachers at every level, from Nursery to Class XII, know that a child who talks freely about their own life finds it easier to read, write and ask questions later.
Don’t expect perfect routines on day one. It takes a week to get the sleep, the homework and the bag back in order. That is normal.
From all of us
From everyone at People’s Public School, Bhopal, a very happy and safe Diwali to every child, parent and family. May your house smell of ghee, your rangoli stay crooked and your sweet box never be empty. See you back at school.
Shubh Deepawali!