October 25, 26, 27 were Deepavali days - Indian festival of lights! Its one of my favorite festivals, few reasons being good food, sweets, holidays, bursting crackers AND giving and lighting DIYAS.
We have been giving diyas to friends and families for the last 2 years. It all started because of a NGO called FAME India. It is an organization that works towards training children with disabilities in certain trades, to help them stand on their own. The children are taught trades based on their ability, skills and interest. During Deepavali, the kids paint the diyas and sell them. We have been buying the diyas from FAME and distributing them.
I first make a list of people and categorize them area-wise. Then I get the total count of diyas to buy. We go thru the diya list and order them about a month before the festival, as there is a huge demand for them. This time we ordered beautiful cloth bags to put the diyas inside. After going to the work shop where the kids work, we ordered around 4 cardboard boxes full of diyas and bags. I was soo excited when I actually got the diyas home.
The whole process of distributing diyas is fun :) I just love looking at them as they are soo colorful. Each and every type of diya is very beautiful. The kids have done an amazing job of painting them so artistically. They are really talented. And even the bags are stitched so well. I had ordered 12 different kinds of diyas and one box full of regular candle diyas to light at our house on 3 days during the festival.
We get to see most of our family and friends at least once a year as we visit everyone to give diyas. So we have a lovely time meeting people :)
FAME website: http://www.fameindia.org/
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