Winter is Coming; and now my watch begins.

When I was an Infant Teacher, teaching 5 to 6 year olds, this term was always one of my favourites, especially because planning it used to be a breeze. You’d sit down with a calendar and go… “Right, this week is Halloween… next Bonfire Night… there’s a gap to Diwali but we’ll do it then because the week after that we need to do Hanukkah and then that leaves us 3 weeks for Christmas.”

It was really that easy.

Now I’m not bound by the weekly issues of a calendar but I still find myself ticking off the festivals on the way to Christmas. Halloween dominated the TV discussion last weekend, which was a shame, because there was an important religious festival for Hindus that happened on Sunday; the Hindu Festival of lights known as Diwali.

One of the really blessed things about The Hygge Nook is that it is a multi-national and multi-cultural affair. People of all faiths and of none are welcome, in the spirit of hygge. We might talk religion, but we won’t argue it. All are welcome.

One of our members is a lovely lady called Shriya, who lives in Leicestershire. She kindly wrote some of her thoughts down about Diwali:

Diwali in the recent years has become a small affair after we’ve changed our outlook onto life ….in the past we use to have over 20 people..ermm yeah

Diwali is known as the festival of lights and to me and my family this means making our home beautiful by lighting up diyas (traditional clay pot lamps), candles, also colour changing lights in our temple.

Leicester is full of hygge during Diwali, people travel from miles just to experience mini India and the togetherness. You can hear dialects from all over the world, the scents of warm Indian food being served.

Diwali would not be complete without our family traditional outing to our local event. The fireworks are my favourite part because I smile a lot. At home my mother bakes Indian sweets and snacks for us to enjoy during the build up and onto New Year (day after Diwali). I am fortunate to be a part of a colourful vibrant culture that embraces light.

Diwali was always a lovely festival to celebrate with the children. The traditional Diwali story, henna handpatterns, rice patterns, eating the sweets, dressing in saris, we had a breeze. I loved telling the stories associated with the festivals. Here is the story traditionally told at Diwali.

May any of my readers who are Hindi have had a blessed and happy Diwali and may the next year hold all the wonders and blessings you could possibly want.