1. The fun of going as a big group to buy new dresses and sarees.
2. The pride of telling dad, mom and brother 'this is on me' - take what you like.
3. Getting to taste fresh hot murukku, rava laddu, halwa, ribbon pakoda, mysore pa, mixture, boondhi, adhirasam and telling mom 'it's perfect' and to see her smile
3a. Making fun of the kitchen mishaps of mom and aunts
4. Dad forcing and indulging to take as many dresses as possible
5. Umpteen visits to the shops
6. Showing the new dresses to aunts, uncles, cousins and getting to see their new ones
7. Missing the TV shows to go around giving sweets and savories to neighbors, friends and relatives (not without complaining..)
8. Crackers, Crackers, Crackers, Crackers and Crackers
8a. Mary Aunty's 10000 walas
8b. Evening Fireworks at the park
9. Wishes over the phone to distant friends, relatives and acquaintances early in the morn
10. The Smog, the festive spirit and the crazy shopping crowd in T.Nagar
11. Giri Chithi's [only ;-)] speciality Thengai burfi
12. Knowing the latest trend from the young college goers
13. Introducing Darsh to new crackers
14. Dad, Mom, Sriram, Maama, maami, Lali chithi, Ilango Chithappa, Ravi maama, Gayathri maami, Giri Chithi, Suresh Chithappa, Vasantha akka, Karthi, Saravanan Anna, Arun, Vidya, Prakash, Ramya, Mouli, Harish, Abirami, Sri and Darsh.
15. The fun, the laughter, the joy...
A Deepavali...without all this...is just Vali.....
One of the frantic ways to feel at home :) look up on Google Maps
