Happy Diwali

I just wanted to wish you, your family and your friends all a very Happy Diwali.

While I have sadly become less religious over the years, I still respect and love each and every one of these holidays. Because my little sister is up here, we get together for every major Indian holiday Rakhi, Dusshera and Navarti, etc. While I normally use to fast for Navarti, this year I gave up meat but not eggs. I know this is pretty lame and easy to do, but its the thought that counts. Speaking of which, I still get a call on the major ones from my mom as reminding to have some shame and be vegetarian for each one.

Diwali in our house is a big deal. We got lots of family near by and all the cousins roll out to celebrate. I roll out with my Pops to all our family friends’ houses and exchange plates of food and sweets. I eat like a king and then we do fireworks. So far we have not gotten caught by the cops yet, so I hope that this year is okay as well. On top of that, my mom spends a week making all sorts of Indian snacks. It is sweet.

Given that my little sister may be doing her residency in the East Coast next year, this year I have decided to go home for the event. She is making it a big deal as it is her last diwali as part of "our" family, as after she gets married she is part of "their" family. This is not true, but I guess as a female about to get married family life changes once you get in-laws.

In any case, it all worked out as I have to present to UCLA MBAs today, so work is covering my ticket and expenses and I am getting tomorrow off, so I get to spend the weekend in LA. The only shitty thing is that I am going to miss the USC game (which Cal has a decent chance of winning) and my roommates bday - if you are in the Bay, you should roll to Rosewood Saturday night - its going to be the party of the year. Further I got friends coming from Chicago and Boston that I have not seen in awhile -its Diwali though, so most of them understand.

Even yesterday, my family friend setup a Diwali dinner for forty heads at an Indian restaurant. I kid you not, there were prolly eight indians and the rest were Asians. I guess everyone needs an excuse to party. But on the real, it is nice to see my Asian friends wishing me a Happy Diwali. I did not even have to explain it to my boss why I was taking tomorrow off - he knew what it was.

I don't if it means people are becoming more culturally aware of more people are watching "The Office" ....




In any case, HAPPY DIWALI.