Diwali, the “Festival of Lights” by Anushree Samsi

Anushree Samsi is the winner in the 6-10 category of the KitaabWorld and Masalamommas' Summer Writing Competition. Read her essay on "Diwali, the Festival of Lights"

Diwali, the “Festival of Lights” by Anushree Samsi

The reason I like Diwali is because everything feels so lively. I love lighting the diyas and seeing how the house gets brighter and brighter each time you light a diya. When I light the diyas and sit around the rooms that are filled with them, it makes me feel warm and cozy.

My father told me that when you light one diya and then you take the flame of that diya to light another diya, the first diya does not lose any of its flame or brightness. That taught me that when you give or share, you do not lose anything. In fact, there is more brightness all around. When you light a diya, it shoos away all the sadness, darkness and horror. So, the more diyas you light, the more darkness you shoo away.

Firecrackers are also a really fun part, seeing them spark out, writing and drawing by moving the sparkler in the air. I also like another type of firecracker called the “flower pot” explode. It looks like a bunch of light sparks shooting up and filling the darkness.

I am not a big fan of Indian sweets but I do like having cold Banana Sheera and Kaju Rolls. For lunch, I like to have chapattis and rice and all the new curries there are to have. I also like taking several helpings of fried crunchy Namkeens or in Tamil called “Bhashnam”.

Each year we make rangolis on our door step. Each year we make rangolis with different things such as colored playblocks, colored sand, rice paste, flower petals and other things. I enjoy making rangolis and seeing all the new shapes I can make.

I also like having Diwali parties where it is a time to socialize, meet up with friends and celebrate this great festival together. One of my funny memories is when we had a Diwali party at our house and I wore a fancy indian top (or “choli”) with Adidas shorts. I did that because I thought it looked smart and when I wear the bottom [the “ghagra”] it makes me hot.

Overall the things we did during Diwali come to an end but everyone knows it had been an awesome Diwali.

Anushree Samsi is a 9-year old fourth grader who loves to play sports, spend time with her dog and read. She is looking forward to celebrating Diwali in a few weeks with all her friends.