Fun diwali activities ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda has a Diwali event open to the community on October 26, 5-7 p.m.:

"Join Cedar Laners and members of the Indo-American community across the DMV region for a special Spirit Experience to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. The service will feature Indian dance, music, a children’s play on Diwali, reflections, and the lighting of lamps. The service will blend together a faith and cultural tapestry which celebrates the beauty, diversity, and oneness of the human journey. The evening will conclude with delicious vegetarian Indian food and the lighting of sparklers."

https://www.cedarlane.org/event/spirit-experience-diwali

Thanks! I live close by and this sounds great! We have an annual diwali party with indian food, and sparklers. I trace big rangoli designs and then use uncooked rice (and use food dye to make them different colors) and have the kids fill in the rangoli patterns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but I have toddlers and love these suggestions! I really want to prioritize Indian celebrations as they grow up - take a day or two off work so we can prepare for Puja in a relaxed manner. And spend a couple weekends before doing holiday-related arts and crafts to make those special memories.

My kids grew up here, so we celebrate both the Indian and American festivals. My kids love 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We celebrate it in a not-religious manner and concentrate of the food, decoration, entertaining, gift giving etc. We have a large group of Indian friends from different regions, so we all celebrate one or two of our favorite festivals in a big way and our friends join us for potluck.

Some of the things that we have adopted and given it a Indian twist is for the kids - Diwali gift exchange, and making and hanging diwali ornaments.
We have also created some diwali traditions like throwing native wild flower seeds in a meadow near our house and also hanging some bird feeders for the fall and winter.

Why would you strip away the religious aspect? How whitewashed and bland...

We are not Christians. For us, Christmas is a social celebration, rather than a religious celebration. We are not going to church etc. We primarily celebrate it the same way as we do Halloween. We focus on the decorations, food, gift giving, meeting family and friends. We also use it as a time to give gifts to teachers to show our appreciation because there is no national holiday celebrating teachers in this country.

And, I have no problems in borrowing fun and useful things from any culture that I encounter here, because why live in a silo when you have been given an opportunity to pick and select whatever appeals to you?

DP — I’m a Christian here, and I agree with you about the silos. There is so much we can learn about others AND ourselves. Also while Christmas is a religious holiday for Christians, the federal Christmas holiday is secular. *insert appropriate Diwali equivalent expression for may you enjoy your holiday*

[Anonymous]

WHat sparklers do people buy? I'm looking to get some for kids around the neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Here’s a plug for your local library. I know Prince William County has a few library events planned. I bet others do, too.

[Anonymous]

My kids love the Amar Chitra Katha comics, and I find it a fantastic resource to teach them about Indian culture, history, folk tales and religion. The complete Ramayana is now available in comic form - https://www.amarchitrakatha.com/us/valmik-is-ramayana-6-volume-set/


I also really like the retelling of the story of Hanuman by Eric Jendresen. Lovely artwork and very interesting to see it drawn and told from a non-Indian POV.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1883672783/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHat sparklers do people buy? I'm looking to get some for kids around the neighborhood

In the past, I have bought 14 inch Gold Sparklers from BuySparklers.com for diwali parties https://www.buysparklers.com/product/14-inch-gold-diwali-sparklers/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.buysparklers.com/product/14-inch-gold-diwali-sparklers/. You have to order in advance and shipping is costly. I used to group the orders from my friends, so that we could save on shipping.

I have also ordered the extra-long sparklers and they last for a long, long time. I have stock from several years ago and they are still good to go. You may want to order for next year now because it is heavily discounted. If you are in VA, you should try and buy after 4th of July because sparklers go on sale. We live in MD and sparklers are not easily available.

You could also try https://www.tntfireworks.com/ and see if they have a store near your location.

[Anonymous]

What's for dinner on Diwali? I thought I will cook a vegetarian Biryani (Kale Moti Biryani from Prashad by I Kalra) but kids are not enthused about it. My teen has been sending me Biryani memes.

[Anonymous]

Lots of ideas here - https://artsycraftsymom.com/40-diwali-ideas-cards-crafts-decor-diy/

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHat sparklers do people buy? I'm looking to get some for kids around the neighborhood

Amazon and Walmart also sell sparklers.

[Anonymous]

Diwali Pooja thalis and lots of indian sweets are available at Costco now? Are we seeing a lot of Diwali merchandise around nowadays?

[Anonymous]

Oriental trading has Diwali SunCatchers that you can color.

[Anonymous]

So the letter W is pronounced as V in Hindi?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oriental trading has Diwali SunCatchers that you can color.

https://www.orientaltrading.com/diwali-suncatchers-24-pc--a2-14148560.fltr



$8 for 24.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP with the list of 10 things, in this day and age why would you want to advertise your religion on your front door? No way would I hang or put any religious symbols on my front door or porch.

A few years ago, there was this gang from New York that Targeted Indian homes and stole things - the give away was the religious decorations outside the home.

You should seek treatment for your anxiety.

+1 people already know I am Indian because I leave the house and sometimes I am in my own yard!