Festivals always set a celebratory mood. With festival delicacies being cooked, decorations being put up and people gleaming with happiness in their choicest fits for Diwali, there is also a longing for home for a few. This Diwali, we connect with Priya, the face behind Itsokyaaar, to reflect on the bittersweet journey of missing home while living abroad.
Priya opens up about the emotional complexities of being away from the familiar sights, sounds, and smells that define Diwali. Through joy and nostalgia, she recreates the spirit of home in a foreign land. Join us in unravelling the layers of Priya’s #MeriWaliDiwali, where the flickering lights on the screen become a bridge that reduces the distance between India and the US.
SN: How do you celebrate Diwali while living outside India?
Priya: We are thankful to have friends like family who we can get together with and host a Diwali party to create all the feels. It wasn’t like this when I moved abroad six years ago. The initial years were a little harder, and I missed home more than I enjoyed the celebrations here. But now, we have built our small traditions, such as decorating our home, making sweets, performing Lakshmi puja, and spending the evening with friends enjoying good food and sharing stories from back home.
SN: What is that one thing you miss the most about Diwali in India ?
Priya: So many things, no matter how long you have lived abroad, festival times hit differently in India. Back home, we used to have massive Diwali parties where we played cards, burst crackers, and enjoyed the company of loved ones. But what Darshan and I miss the most is the chaos of waking up on Diwali mornings, with fresh sweets and snacks being prepared, decorations going up, and the festive spirit everywhere. Living abroad, when you wake up on Diwali morning, it is quiet, and you have to put in the work to ensure that you don’t spend Diwali like any other day. So we truly miss the chaos that was wrapped in love and warmth!
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SN: If you could have an unlimited supply of one single thing from India, what would it be?
Priya: It would be all of the Indian Ghar ka khana but especially: fresh hot rotis, puris, thepla, and stuffed parathas, because those are just impossible to make from scratch on a regular basis if you are living abroad.
SN: Why do you think it’s important to celebrate our culture and traditions when you’re living in a foreign country?
Priya: Festivals are an integral part of growing up and help us stay connected to our culture. Celebrating festivals abroad is the easiest way to bring a part of home with you with our own twists and traditions – like adding that extra tadka to your daal. It helps you stay connected to your heritage, preserve your identity, and remind you of who you are. Most importantly it helps you build a community in a foreign land and share your culture with others and learn about their cultures in return.
SN: Any Diwali specific delicacies that you cannot stop bingeing on?
Priya: It’s all the homemade sweets and snacks that mom prepared such as boondi ladoos, kaju katli, nolen gurer rasgulla, namkeen, dahi vada, bhujia, and kanji. We both have our weaknesses when it comes to these snacks, but for me, it’s the suaali (namak para) that my mom makes, and for Darshan, it’s the moong dal halwa and chakli.
Living abroad, Priya has become a beacon of cultural celebration, using her platform to showcase the richness of Diwali traditions. She has shown how the spirit of Diwali can be infused with your own little traditions despite the challenges of navigating cultural nuances in a foreign land.
