Favourite dishes, traditions shared across generations, and my 80-year-old auntie who nearly missed it all!
So I spent part of last weekend gambling with my 80-year-old auntie and she won.
She hadn’t wanted to come to our Diwali celebrations in the first place and we literally had to go round to her house and drag her out to join us!
I nearly missed the celebrations as well… being in the middle of setting up for Christmas markets, my diary has been manic and I’ve been here, there and everywhere and speaking honestly, it would have been easy to say I couldn’t make it to mum’s in Birmingham. But I really did want to be there this year.
We’re a BIG family and we used to get together all the time, but these days everyone has work, children, commitments… Getting everyone in the same place takes a lot more effort than it used to. My sister couldn’t be there which was sad for us all… and mum had a horribly painful wrist.
BUT she’d still managed to plan a feast around everyone’s favourites. Paratha for my daughter Zara. Aubergine for me. Paneer, pizzas, dosa… everyone had been thought of. That’s what mum always does, she remembers what you love, then makes sure it’s waiting for you when you get there.
What really got me this year was watching her explain the meaning of Diwali to Zara and my wife, Laura. We made rangoli designs together to welcome people into the house, and Mum talked us through the different Gods, the rituals and why we do what we do. We each took away a coin to keep in our wallets, with wishes for health and prosperity for the year ahead.
Zara is eight now! She loves making things, and she was completely caught up in it all: decorating, listening to her grandma, laughing and playing with her cousins. Seeing her learn about our traditions directly from Mum was so special and it meant a lot that Laura could share in that too.
I just kept looking on at everyone enjoying themselves and thinking over and over how quickly all of this is going… I’m in my 40s now, and Zara won’t always be eight. In a few years she’ll have her own plans, and getting everyone together might take even more organising. There’ll always be another show to set up for, another email to answer, another reason why this weekend is difficult. But we have to remember to prioritise family, right?
I’m so glad I made it to this one, even if my auntie did take our money.