Happy Diwali

Had been home for diwali.
Mumma was describing how they (she and her siblings) used to wake up early in the morning (read middle of the night) at 3.30 AM and burst firecrackers along with the Thackerseys. She had painstakingly made a lot of yummy faraal for me, Sid and Siddhi.

Me too have fond memories of waking up early...going to the temple with papa and brothers..ruddhu holding my hand and ragu holding papa's. Perambulate the Ganpati temple once and come back home with the pedas :D
Because our home was the assembly point for all kids in the building...the firecrackers would be collected at our place, taken downstairs...Dad would begin with the first laxmi bomb and then all the kids would pick their favorite cracker and get crackling.

This Diwali was special because it was my first Diwali at OUR home in Kharghar.
Had a lavish diwali what with buying a laptop, a printer/scanner/copier, one cell phone each for me and my husband. Cooked for myself and my husband the first time.
The highlight of the entire evening was lighting up the diyas in my house - on the staircase, balconies, doorstep. My home looked lovely :-)
Also had my mangalsutra sulta ceremony which Sid did. Siddhi loved her new dress. I loved my new dress. Sid was surprised by the book I gave him for diwali. His was the best reaction for the gift - he glared at me then broke into a wide grin and then started reading his book (awww...sweet no? :-D).
I am leaving for Mumbai tonight for Rahul's wedding in Pune. Was planning to meet Apurwa but guess it will be difficult.
More about the visit once I am back :-)