Diwali Party

The Diwali party at my home marked exactly 1 month since I arrived to Germany. During this month, I was lucky to join a Hike, 2 potlucks and 1 very amazing Diwali party.

My house mate (let’s call her Apurwa for the post) put in a lot of effort in making this a success. She invited around 30 of her friends — and me. Luckily for me, I happen to live here so I was unavoidably invited 😉.

The preparations had started long before the party with meticulous planning for gifts and food. Every guest received a gift bag thoughtfully filled with lovely card, incense, candles, sweets, candies and dry fruits for each.

Things really picked up pace 2 days before the party, when some of her friends started coming home to help with the decoration. It was always fun to meet new people as I returned late from the university. It made my evenings interesting to see the house slowly getting decorated.

Then came the big day, with a long list of things to be prepare. The party was a potluck but as a host Apurwa wanted to cook Boondi laddu, malai kofta, Black gram, Chaat, and rice.

She needed help and of course she can’t exactly rely on me. My highest culinary achievement so far has been cooking Sambar in one hr. So, she called on 4 of her friends to help.

Six of us started this cooking marathon with lots of energy in the afternoon. I wasn’t entirely sure that we would be able to do everything. Amidst the laughs and jokes we somehow managed to cook it all.

I still had one small problem – I hadn’t packed any traditional dress with me. I never expected my first month to be so festive. Fortunately, one of the friends let me borrow the extra kurta which he brought for those who didn’t have one.

The party started at 6 pm and slowly started gathering momentum. There were plenty of food, drinks, dance and laughs. Guests came from Spain, Columbia, Egypt, Germany, Turkey and many more places. Seeing all of them dressed in Indian wear, dancing to Indian songs and enjoying Indian food was heartwarming.

As the night went on, some guests started returning home. Then when the late night game of charades started, it pumped the energy back into people.

The party ended at 3 am – which magically became 2 am as the Daylight saving ended in Germany! Overall, it was a wonderful experience for me. I can’t yet say I made friends – that needs time and trust – but I certainly have made some great acquaintances. Hope to see them again soon.

I can’t thank everyone enough for such a truly wonderful time.