Thank you @BarneyGrubble and everyone else!
A very Happy Diwali to all!
Diwali is about gathering with friends and family and community, good triumphing over evil, and light emerging out of darkness. And, of course, lots and lots of food — sweets, savories, and everything along to the snack to meal to dessert spectrum!
When we were kids, it was part of the holiday tradition for all the kids in a building to dress up first thing in the morning and visit ALL the neighbors — not unlike trick or treating, but you sat and chatted at each place for a few minutes, ate some snacks and sweets, and then the group moved to the next home.
My grandmother was apparently a favorite stop for her homemade cold drinks, which no one else offered the kids - they were reserved for adult visitors. But October is the hottest month of the year, and when you’re a kid dressed up in Diwali finery, it gets very, very warm very fast, so a cold drink was a treat!
It’s been a quiet festival so far for me, aside from a silly frenzy of making a few special things over and over for various kid recipients.
Diwali sweets and savories are always traditional ones that are set within each family. Modern twists and experiments are reserved for parties or people you don’t know 
, and even then only things you’ve already tested out — no one wants a dud dish at Diwali, and you’ll never live one down!
I’m traveling to spend the rest of the festival (another 3 days for us) and my nephew’s birthday with family, and so will miss my usual close friend gatherings in nyc (one friend in particular is currently very mad at me about it, but nephew birthday will trump Diwali party as long as said nephew wants me around for his birthdays, which is maybe another year if I’m lucky!)
My bag is weighed down with food — some Diwali things, but mostly bagels because, as the birthday boy said to me yesterday, “I really NEED bagels!!!” Also cream cheese (had to explain to the bagel shop guy why I wanted the pound packed in little 1/4 lb cups — yay for TSA!)
