Deepavali: Back home, back then.

Before you, the reader, jump on me for cashing in on a nostalgia wave (see my recent nostalgia post on Navarathri), let me offer my defense. I had enough material for a good post and debated quite a bit before deciding to put fingers to keyboard.It is Deepavali today and there is not a cracker to be heard or seen on a cloudy cold night. The heater is on (yes, we have current for 24 hours of the day if you must know) on a chilly night in the South Bay of San Francisco. Deepavali greetings have been exchanged with family back in India who must all be eating good sweets, watching Solomon Papiaya or Dindukkal Leoni on the TV moderating some form of a man vs. woman or woman vs. woman Patti Mandram. But the heart hearkens back to a time long long ago when Deepavali was quite something else.Growing up in Coimbatore in the 80's and 90's, Deepavali was by far the coolest festival. TV was non-existent for much of the 80's or atleast to me. All day, all week Deepavali programming on TV didnt start until the 90's. Deepavali growing up meant the following things - crackers, sweets, and new movie releases.Do I start with a 100 walla or a bomb rocket?Crackers was the biggest thing about Deepavali and for a kid in school, it meant a lot. I remember starting to concoct what I wanted each year, a good two months in advance. My mother worked at a bank where we had access to direct catalogs from Sivakasi at reasonable prices- only catch was that it was a limited catalog. I was given a budget by my parents and I spent days agonizing as to how I would distribute the money. I remember writing up my configuration on a faded xerox copy of the catalog and erasing it over and over again until the right combination was arrived it. It was never an easy choice.Was I going to spend more on the Red forts that had a greater impact but higher cost/time enjoyed ratio or single ones like Lakshmi/Nethaji or Atom Bomb/Hydrogen Bomb that gave me lower cost/time enjoyed ratio?. In addition to ordering via the bank catalog, I ended up spending some last minute cash on areas where I felt there was a gap in coverage. It was way more complicated than it sounds if you can imagine that. I remember taking my bicycle to Brooke Bond, the Mecca of fireworks in Coimbatore and various small and medium stores in Gandhipuram to identify the best prices for each cracker.And then there was the planning. Once the list was submitted, there was the onerous task of discussing with friends at school and the neighborhood, the sequence of operations. Do I start with a Red Fort or an atom bomb. How quickly can I wrap up the obligatory flower pots and zameen chakkars before I  could move on to the sound effects. When do the bomb rockets come out?. There was also the task of synchronizing schedules so I wasn't treading on the Lakshmi vedi schedule of a friend down the street. Plus there was also the time when we all pooled our fireworks together in a common spot and had the best event of the day. Crackers on Diwali was probably where I picked up all my requirements analysis, procurement, budgeting, planning and execution skills.When all the sweets are still not enoughI always had a weakness for sweets and my mother, forever the one who loved making half a dozen kinds of them for Deepavali found me her ideal muse for the festival.  For the entire week before Deepavali, my mother assembled all the sugar and ghee that was sold in Ramnagar to make a mountain load of sweets for us and to be shared with family and friends. She toiled her evenings and nights while keeping up with the office work during the day. Often times, something had to give and she ended up taking a couple of days off prior to Deepavali to focus on the main task at hand- filling all empty containers at home with something. And I consumed anything and everything she concocted. It was bliss for weeks as I devoured everything she made at home and the ones we got from family and friends. Specific maami's were in the "best stuff in town" list and I made sure they were paid the obligatory visit on Deepavali morning. The only item I stayed away from was the Deepavali marundhu/legyam (medicine). Suffice to say, I still cant stand it.In an era of sugar control and hyper cautionary approach to carbs (yes, I am one of them too), it feels good to think back to a time when if something was made, I ate. Simple as that.The MoviesI could write an entire post on this and I probably will someday but suffice to say that for any true blooded tamil film fan who lived through the 80's and 90's, Deepavali was epic. With Rajinikanth and Kamalhassan battling for supremacy and Vijaykanth, Karthik, Prabhu, Sarath Kumar jostling for the next spots, Deepavali was always the time to release the biggest movies. While Pongal had its share of biggies, nothing came close to Deepavali. Plans were made well in advance for the one movie to watch either the afternoon of Deepavali or the day after. Tickets were impossible to get unless you had the right connections at the turnstiles. For Rajini and Kamal movies, it was really something to get tickets for the first week, leave alone first day. Such was the hype and fanfare of Deepavali releases.Specifically, I remember the Deepavali of 1991 which was the biggest in memory. Rajinikanth and Manirathnam came together for the first time with Mani's take on Mahabharata, Thalapathi. Kamalhassan had yet another of his acting phenoms with Guna. And the second stringers were also in the fray with Karthik's Amaran (which eventually didnt make it due to production issues), and Bhagyaraj's Rudra. I remember the hours of argument over which was better- Thalapathi or Guna. Those days of Kamal-Rajini battles at school and with friends in the neighborhood are unparalleled.And yes, the new clothesAs everyone in my family will tell you, I am addicted to getting clothes. And Deepavali was when it all started. Enough said.NowAnd that brings us to now. Living in the heart of Silicon Valley, there is definitely some amount of Deepavali celebrations with family and friends. The little guy's school puts up a pretty good Deepavali function with kids dancing and stuff. There are small parties at work and the emails and Facebook posts and phone calls and such. There is also one big party every year with family which is pretty cool. But nothing can hold a candle to what it was back then, back home. I miss it all. A lot.Happy Deepavali everyone. Spread the love and good spirits.