"Going Home for Diwali"

October - Yes, the festive season is near. In the morning, when you wake up there is a cool breeze that is blowing. You slowly try to ease your way out of the bed and crawl into the bathroom for the shower, only to turn the shower On and stand next to it trying to muster up the courage to get into it. The water is cold, and you are probably too embarassed to start using the Water Heater, yet. You wait until you realize that you are getting late for office and then dash into the shower and out of it as quickly. So, the hot and humid summers are gone. In the evening there is a very pleasent fragnance from the flowers on the trees. That pleasent smell (for lack of a better word) reminds you that the festive season is here. Diwali is coming soon! Suddenly, you have a smile on your face. There are a countless feelings which you feel during this time of the year. It is a sort of a high you wait for, all year long.

There is an old Maruti Suzuki advertisement which starts coming every year during this period of time. The advt brings a smile to your face. You can not help but like this advt. It's about people taking a vacation and going to their home/family. There is a particular scene, where a guy holds a banner in his hand, asking for a Lift, after the bus in which he was going home broke down in the middle of the highway. The banner reads "Need to be Home for Diwali".

It was my Manager, who a couple of days back came to me and asked - "What are you leave plans for Diwali?" I stared at him for a few seconds and said - "No Leave plans". This year, after almost 5 years, for the first time- I will not be "Going Home for Diwali". I will be home. Somehow, I guess, I will be missing that feeling of "Going Home for Diwali". What makes Diwali most fun is not just the Diwali day, but the days approaching it. And, when you combine it with the excitement you have when you are going Home after about 4-6 months, the fun just doubles. There used to be an excitement in the air a day before I was going to go home. Actually, the excitement used to start right from the day tickets were booked and continued till the day I was finally Home, lying on the bed ordering another Aloo Parantha to Mom.

I still remember the first time I came home for Diwali from Bangalore in 2008. It was early morning when I entered Delhi, and to add to the fun it was a train journey I took ( yeah, costly tickets and Infy salary). The Auto Rickshaw ride from the Nizamuddin Railway station to the Metro station was probably the best Auto Rickshaw ride I have ever had. It was, I guess 6:30 AM in the morning, that sweet smell of the air and the cool breeze when it hits your face, combined with the way the Auto Rickshaw drivers drive the only way they know - Absolute BLISS! This is something I died for in Bangalore.

This year, unlike the last 5, I am in Delhi, at Home. Most of the people in my office are not natives of Delhi. They all come UP, Bihar, Himachal, Haryana etc. Everybody around me is busy finalizing their plans for Diwali, those going by train have aleady got their tickets boked, and the ones who'll go by Bus will probably get them booked soon.

It was when my manager asked me for my Leave plans and I said , that I have No leave plans for Diwali, that was the time it suddenly stuck me that I aint going Home for Diwali this year, I am already Home. It was just 1 year, when I did not come to Delhi on Diwali - and I remember how empty the roads of Bangalore, and the cafeteria of Infosys were. Absolutely deserted! It was all so empty, that you could have mistaken a Monday morning to a Public Holiday. Probably, I am going to witness it again this year. I am sure, there would be no empty roads in Delhi (LOL), but I am pretty sure about the office cubicles and the make-shift car parking outside my office building. Its going to be all empty.

As much as I am Happy about being in Delhi this Diwali, I totally miss the journey to Delhi from Bangalore - that ride from Office in Electronic City to the Airport in the afternoon. Waiting for the Flight to take off at the Bangalore Airport. Reaching Delhi, and waiting for someone to come and pick you up. Seeing the familiar places (and faces) again. The houses along the way decorated with Lights, and Mom waiting for you to come back and put up the lights on our house as well.

To everyone who is away from Home, this Diwali go home guys - that project delivery can wait. The happiness it would bring to you and your loved ones when you will reach home, will be all worth it.

Wish you all a very Happy Festive Season!