The continuing festivities and sarees galore!! So now I have so many of my friends and family following the pact that almost everyone we visited for Diwali spoke about the pact. I’ve been married for many years now but the childhood memories of celebrating Diwali are still vivid and also special. The ritual of applying oil, abhyang snan, delicious breakfast, the elaborate puja – how I miss that!! What I miss most is also my early morning Diwali walk with Monika Erande. We would get done with the rituals and then set out for a long walk, visiting some friends and family on the way, the last stop being monika’s grandmother’s house. Those were the days!! Diwali continues to be great fun even now – cleaning and decorating the house, preparing the ‘faral’ and visiting near and dear ones. The sarees – a turquoise blue traditional bandhani chiffon saree with a pink border and embroidery and sequin work, bought in Jaipur. Teamed it up with lovely thewa jewellery sourced from a friend of Sujata Mane!! The orange and cream lehenga saree with beautiful embroidery on the skirt, in georgette, and a fully embroidered blouse bought for Neha Laddha Narasimhan’s wedding. This saree again has been worn by few in the family and is my favorite too!! Teamed this one with navratna jewellery designed by my mother. The pink and green saree is Amma’s, the evergreen and elegant Mysore crepe silk with zari on the border