For the Mom Celebrating Festivals Far From Home
When the street isn't lit up and nobody comes to the door with mithai.
Festivals away from home hit differently, no?
There's no street lit up end to end. No aunty at the door with a box of mithai you didn't ask for and will absolutely finish. No one calling to ask what you're cooking, so they can tell you how they'd do it.
It's tempting to recreate all of it. Every sweet, every ritual, every decoration. And then feel a bit flat, because it still isn't the same.
Maybe the answer isn't a smaller copy of home.
A shorter list
A few lights in the window. A toran on the door, so the building knows. One sweet you make together, however it turns out. A video call where everyone talks over each other.
That's it. That's the festival.
Your kids won't miss the old version the way you do. They never had it. This is their version. The one with the lopsided ladoos and the battery diyas on the balcony.
It's not a smaller version of home. It's his home.
If you're far away this year, light one thing. Make one thing. Call one person. It counts.
