Illumination and Rangoli: Day 0

It is Diwali day and everybody is preparing for Illumination in full swing. I contemplate going to my native place. The prospect of a Daru Party after Illumination haunts me. Finally, I decide to the contrary since this was the first Illumination that I was seeing in Kgp.

Last Minute Preparations

Last minute preparations are on. Everybody is allotted teams. Lots of seniors also pitch in. Work is on at full throttle. Nehru Hall has been allotted the 11 o' clock slot. So we have some time. 7 Chatais have been made ready.

I run around with wicks, Diyas and candles giving last minute touch-ups. At 2100 hours, we are allotted the chatais where we are to light the diyas. We get our tables stacked up and ready so that we can start lighting the moment the judges arrive.

The Rules of the Game

It is all about timing. You light the diyas too early - and they will burn off. You light it too late - and you can't finish by the time the judges come. No artificial lighting is allowed. Nobody is to be seen in the arena when the judges arrive. There should be pin-drop silence. The main switch is toggled before 11 o' clock. The battleground is ready. (literally!)

A signal would be given when we should start lighting the lamps. No one was to panic. And above all, we had to use our common sense. On the split call, the tables and beds had to brought down and removed from the arena.

Music will be played in the background. The narrators would explain the battleground - how Krishna in his Viraat Avatar convinced Arjun that it was his dharma to go to battleground and fight it out. We would be judged on the overall theme, the narration and the chatais.

The D-Time

The judges are supposedly late be half an hour. We start lighting our diyas comfortably. Suddenly, we are told to hurry up. Calculations have gone horribly wrong. The judges are asked to wait for some time outside the gate. They showed around the Rangoli for some time.

All effort is made to buy time. The Virat avatar is 2 storeys high. Completing it would be a colossal task within the time frame. Everybody rushes to complete the Virat Avatar. The Virat Avatar is 60% complete when the split call is given. Everybody rushes to dismantle the tables and hide everything.

A Risky Affair

In the mayhem, one fellow is injured. A bed had been dropped on his leg from high up. His leg has swollen and he is clearly in extreme pain. He is smuggled outside the hall to the hospital. Music (Shlokas etc) is running in the backdrop. Even that has been mixed up. Everything seems lost.

The Junta starts pouring in and wishing us Happy Diwali. Even on this festive occasion, the fiercely competitive Nehruites have nothing to cheer about. The Daru Party more or less stood cancelled. I haven't had dinner yet. We go out to have something. And even though, I wasn't really very much involved in the preparations - it was really difficult to swing the mood after that. Probably one of the most tiring and eventful Diwalis I have ever had.

Related Posts

Illumination and Rangoli: Day -1
Illumination and Rangoli: The Countdown