Hi there,
I write this from my parent’s home in Pune. We are here to celebrate Diwali and attend my cousin’s wedding.
There is no better place to be for Diwali and I am so happy that my kids will experience the festival at home in Pune.
We will do a small Diwali ‘pooja’ (prayer) this evening, followed by dinner with the family. The next few days will be with cousins and extended family, and then a bigger family reunion at the wedding.
Imbibing cultural values in kids
I often worry that growing up in a hybrid household (my husband is Scottish), and not living in India or in Scotland, our kids won’t experience either of the cultures properly. So, both my husband and I make sincere effort to immerse them in our respective cultures when we can, especially when we are in our home countries.
We are lucky that living in Dubai, all festivals are celebrated so they get a feel of cultures beyond their own. However, I feel they need to know more particularly about their own cultures.
I’m trying my best to speak in Hindi to them (it’s hard and I will confess I need to 100x my efforts); I encourage them to wear Indian clothes during festivals and weddings, and when in India, they have to eat Indian food made at home.
This also forces me to spend some time better understanding my own culture and why festivals are celebrated. I’m sure if not today, once my kids are a bit older, they will ask me.
(Side note: I recently interviewed Reena from Hindi by Reena (coming soon in my Working Mum Wisdom series). If you are like me, wanting to teach your kids Hindi, she has some fantastic resources to help you teach your kids, you can check them out here.)
Diwali : The micro story
There are many legends about why Diwali is celebrated. The one I grew up with was is from the Ramayana, a tale from Indian mythology.
According to this story, Diwali is the celebration of Lord Ram’s return to the city of Ayodhya from 14 years of exile after defeating the demon ruler ‘Ravan’ of ‘Lanka’. When Lord Ram was to return, the villagers lit oil lamps on the streets at night to symbolize the victory of good over evil, and welcome him back. The word Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘dipavali’, which means “row of lights”.
I should probably attempt reading the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, two of India's greatest epics that have influenced the Hindu way of thinking and belief system. The two stories are believed to be partially based on historical events and are considered to be "itihasa" in Sanskrit, which means historical texts. The third is the Bhagwat Gita.
Perhaps I can rediscover them with my kids by reading children’s versions. 🙂
Resetting energy
Apart from Diwali, family time and my work, I hope to get some time to reset my energy.
I feel that the last 3 months have been a whirlwind as I started by own journey.
Between freelancing and working on my own projects whilst being able to be there more for my kids, is a new dynamic that I am still working on optimising. Although I’m very content, I do often feel like I’m spending a lot of time throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.
I’m reading about ‘pathway thinking’ and setting impossible goals. Apparently it’s easier to 10x your growth than it is to 2x it. More on that later.
I cannot believe we’re at the end of 2023; I know it’s going to fly by.
I’m not ready yet for 2024 but I know I need to map it out. I think I need to do some big picture thinking.
For now, wishing all of you a wonderful festive season. I hope in the chaos of it all, you manage to get some time for your self.
Love and peace,
Abha x