happy diwali 2003/daylight updated

It was nice to be able to attend a puujaa followed by a family dinner on Diwali this year. Diwali time in the US is like most of the rest of the year: quiet, bland and unassuming. You have to be in close proximity to either (a) a desi clique (b) cultural associations that organise events of interest (not the dressing up in vulgar garish clothes and guzzling beer type). Mercifully, I had option (c) -- quite close to what it might be back home, albeit a lot more silent (no sivakasi smokefests and aapaTii bombs!) and limited (