Diwali in the year of the pandemic!

In response to @Windy City Girl's post about celebrating holidays in this most unusual year of our lifetimes, I give you the holiday experience of two of your own qvwomen.

November is the month of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. A celebration with fun and festivities with family and friends. This year, it was so conveniently over the weekend. However, the circumstances of the year kept any holiday plans confined to family members at home and party planning to zoom calls and online games J .

Surprisingly, my workplace sent out messaging about Diwali. This was a first, and they invited Rangoli* submissions from associates to mark the festival. It had been years, if not decades since I and my friend and colleague qvwoman @Aparna Shastry made rangolis, but we were excited to participate and show interest and support for the initiative.

My Saturday started with a pencil sketch and colored rangoli “inspired” by something online. I was thrilled and sent it to Aparna, who gave me invaluable input. What could have been a lack luster afternoon galvanized us into making patterns and decorating in our respective homes, exchanging ideas and improvising, Aparna reminisced about an art project she did with her son, I recollected my mother’s rangolis with my daughter on our Diwali trip some years ago. I enhanced my basic design and remembered about sand colors hidden away somewhere right in my basement and brought out the clay lamps to jazz up the pictures. Unknowingly, we had chosen a unique way to celebrate the holiday this year!

*Rangoli is an art form, originating in the Indian subcontinent, in which patterns are created on the floor or the ground using materials such as colored rice, colored sand, quartz powder or flower petals.