This Diwali!!

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 33; the thirty-third edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'Celebrations'

Dr. S.K. Krishnan was struggling to find his spectacles for last 2 hours and in doing so had toppled half of his household. May be this is the biggest misadvantage of living alone in old age. He was rummaging through the pile of his dirty laundry when the door bell rang to life. Hari's beaming but blurred face met him in the doorway.
"saheb,its diwali!! no lighting in the house?"
"I dont have to indulge in this kind of frivolity", he coughed. "you finish up the laundry, fix me a meal and try to find my glasses."

These servant classes always trying to discover new ways of pinching money, be it holi they want baksheesh, diwali they want money. That was not his problem right now, where were his damn spects. How will read the evening news paper.
He could hear his neighbour Mr. Sushant sharma, the banker's son shouting outside,
"ye kaata, ye waali meri hai, tere do anaar bum mere."
May be he could coax the kid into reading him the news in exchange of crackers which were left from last time's diwali. Last time was so different he remembered, shantanu his son, amanda his british daughter-in-law and his grandson shashwat were there to celebrate diwali with him.
A lot has changed since. There was a mental tug-o-war going on between him and his son. He wanted Dr. S.K.Krishnan, the retired army doctor to leave India and live with him in London. On his dead body thought Dr.Krishnan, nothing could lure him out of his motherland.

He might have to do without his newspaper today. None of the kids were ready to read him the newspaper, not even in exchange for the expensive crackers.

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Raju sharma, son of Mr. Sushant Sharma, a young kid of 12, was wondering what mollified Krishnan uncle's otherwise irritating and always angry tone. He wanted raju to read him the newspaper, last time he was this sweet when his cable wire got tangled in the neem tree and he wanted Raju to untangle it.
Huh..why should he do it. He still remember the scolding he got from his dad along with the grounding when Krishnan uncle complained about them making noise outside his apartment.
May be he was missing his family, but that was not Raju's concern anymore. He was fixated on the purple-yellow kite coming towards him.

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It was already 7 in the evening when Dr.Krishnan woke up from his untimely slumber. Hari had already gone after cleaning up and fixing him a small meal comprising of two chapatis and some daal. That had become his staple since his wife Sunanda left him for a more comfortable abode in God's lap.The noises from outside were growing louder every second, he wondered about the variety in crackers now a days. In his time it used to be just few mirchi bums, sprinklers and anaar bum. He fondly remembered Shantanu was such a brave kid when it came to crackers and once he even burnt his hand while trying to light up the already burnt crackers. Dr.Krishnan, despite being a doctor, got scared of the burn and rushed to the hospital without caring about his slippers or money. Sunanda had to come all the way from home to pay the bill. He was smiling on his stupidity.
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His doorbell was ringing continuosly. He got up from his recliner wearily, thinking it would be Hari to ask for baksheesh again. He was taken aback when he saw a bunch of scrawly, squigly teenagers standing at his door with a heap of candles, sweets and diyas.
"Happy diwali Krishnan uncle, Hari dadu told us you forgot to bring candles and diyas, so we took it upon us to decorate your house."
Within minutes his house was reverbarating with teen voices and merry laughters. He could not believe it was his own house when they finished lighting up each corner with fancy candles and diyas.
"Uncle, look I found your reading glasses , they were behind the flower vase." chirped Raju.
"Now you can come with us and enjoy the fireworks, the whole colony is waiting for you outside." smiled another teenager whose name he did not recall. He was tearing up.
"Wait, I'll bring the whole lot of crackers left from last diwali, I hope they havent gone bad." said Dr.Krishnan, it was time for celebrations.



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