Each time I continued on the draft of this post, there was something else that changed my idea of it. And now, I am asking myself a question once again. How much longer do I postpone this post until it becomes a never-been-there? Procrastinating, fearing what we did not do until we completely stop doing? Well, no more..

This post is all about the Ds: about celebrating life and its festivals as well as about death and remembering those who are no longer with us. It is a month of festivals- Dassera and Deepavali, and also a month for me to remember and celebrate the memory of my dad and another loved aunt who passed away this last week.

In fond memory

My dad would have celebrated another birthday on the 6th. But since he is no longer with us, I do try to celebrate who he was every day, but especially on special days like his birthday.

And I mourn another life lost this past week – a loved aunt whose death means the loss of a warm, generous, full-of-energy personality who endeared herself easily to young and old alike. She never ceased to amaze me with all she managed to do, no matter what, and made me think – ‘superwoman’! (and in so many ways, so much like my dad that it brought forth more memories)

“That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it’s reconciled, accepted, someone points it out to you, and it just hits you all over again, that shocking.” ― Sarah Dessen

Life happens, all that is part of life happens, and death too happens. And what we can do best to honor those who are not with us anymore is to

• celebrate the best of who they were (and there is much to celebrate)
• cherish the memories they left for and with us
• draw inspiration from them and….

… as Marcus Tullius Cicero said “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” So I do hope that the richness of their lives continues to send its ripples far and wide through my actions and words, and in how I honor their memory each and every day.

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” – Chuck Palahniuk

Dassera

I have written about this cherished festival a few times already here, here and here as well; and know I will continue to write about it more.

Deepavali

– which literally means a row of lights (deepa meaning light/lamp and vali meaning row) is at the end of this month, and even without the crackers we associate it with automatically as part of the celebrations, it somehow seems to dispels the darkness (inside and out). It just goes to show that there is magic in memories, in culture, in tradition, in the glow of a single diya (lamp).