Narak Chaturdashi

 Narak Chaturdashi!What all lovely memories of this unique day! Aai would manage to wake up at about four a.m. even when she would have stayed up late the night before, making the unique Diwali special chakali or kadboli. 

Papa would be awake, too. The ceremonial Diwali bath would begin with his. In the meanwhile, Aai would wake us up. Actually, the cold morning would invite one to curl back in to the warm bedspread. But Aai's soft silky fingers massaging the tepid medicinal oil into our backs and our arms would make us forget the sleepy shivery feel.

Properly thus rubbed right with the special oil, the warm water, the Mysore Sandal Soap, the fragrant utane,  would make divine  the festive bath that might have  begun with a murmur of a grumble.  The dimmish  Diwali Diya light in the bathroom used to sparkle bright with the soft lovely feel in Aai's eyes, not to forget the "Aarti Diya" in her hand, and the sparkler in the sibling's.

All along, our small little home would be resonating with the superb raagdari tunes of the great Shehanai by Bismillah Khan. At five sharp, without fail, Aai used to play the long play record with the zeal and ardour of the Neighbour Uncle in the Moti Soap ad.

 Punctuating those brilliant yet soft notes would be Papa's shlokas. Having completed our festive baths, Aai would manage hers, too, by quarter to six tops, as in our childhood, the whole world believed that the Narak Chaturdashi bath of the whole family must finish before six. 

In to the lovely fragrances of the flowers and the special attar and agarbatti for the special pooja would float in the superb aroma of Aai's home made  hyper tasty Diwali special dishes. Those days, these special eats, one could taste only during the Diwali, and hence the special association added further to the flavour. By eight a.m., all these festival chores over, Aai would begin the preparations for the special feast. What lovely efficiency indeed!

No, this write up is not mere nostalgia for those unique days. My attempt is also to evoke the rich feel that fed in to all the senses, touch, sight, taste, smell, and sound. Later when i would analyse imagery and the Keatsian synaesthesia, those lovely mornings would wordlessly float in to my mind, like the beautiful colours of the rangoli that could comfortably compete with the rich colour schemes of the morning sky. What an enriching ambience indeed!

Pratima@ To enjoy childhood was bliss/but to exalt thus the arrival of Diwali was indeed heaven!