Diwali: Tea lights and tales

I would want the gift of a clean environment this Diwali - free of dust and pollution, both physical and mental, said Satish Gupta

Satish Gupta

Artist

Your Diwali wishlist: Ideally, I would want the gift of a clean environment this Diwali — free of dust and pollution, both physical and mental. 

The best Diwali gift given: The best gift that I ever gave to my family, friends and collectors was a set of miniature oil paintings created by me. This was several years ago but people still remember that gift. 

The best Diwali gift received: A limited edition Sailor fountain pen. This was from a limited edition of 99 handcrafted Balaji pens and I was gifted No 99. I was delighted as I have a big collection of Sailor pens and this one had been missing from it.

Your most memorable Diwali: When I was 21, I was away on a scholarship to Paris to study art. Many students of different nationalities were living in Maison de L’Inde. To familiarise them with our culture, I created paper lanterns in the form of our local kandils and painted gods and goddesses on them. We then lit them to make for the most fun-filled Diwali ever. (Dalip had taken his picture for the story on art that artists collect)

Amit Burman

Vice-chairman, Dabur India

Your Diwali wishlist: I want to gift myself an iPhone X this Diwali.

The best Diwali gift given: It was not really a gift, but a social venture that my daughter Diya sought my help in initiating around Diwali a couple of years back. It was to set up ‘RogFree’ to procure used soaps from hotel chains, recycle them and distribute them in the community. I felt it was the most noble thought around the festive season and helped her establish this venture.

The best Diwali gift received: A hand-made greeting by my kids (Diya and Adhiraj) along with a box of chocolates. This was nearly 10 years ago and is still the most precious gift for me.

Your most memorable Diwali: My daughter Diya’s first Diwali.

Papa CJ

Stand-up comedian

Your Diwali wishlist: A flight out of town so that I can get away from the pollution — a clear sign that I’ve grown old! 

The best Diwali gift given: Noise-cancelling headphones. To my deaf aunt.

The best Diwali gift received: A divorce decree by the Supreme Court of India. It wasn’t on Diwali but it sure felt like it. 

Your most memorable Diwali: I was in a boarding school and for nine years I celebrated Diwali in school. That was always fun for two reasons. Firstly, because we had a Diwali evening social where there was a dance in the main hall and all the boys and girls were allowed to dress up in their ‘home clothes’. Secondly, because there were so many of us, we would pool in our money and buy as wide a variety of crackers as we could. This aside from the mischief that some kids would get up to, like climbing the roof of a building and throwing the odd cracker down the chimney of an unpopular staff member!

Rehan Poncha

Olympian and Arjuna awardee, swimmer-turned-golfer

Your Diwali wishlist: iPhone X

The best Diwali gift given: Gifted my mum a Kindle; she says it’s the best gift anyone has ever given her.

The best Diwali gift received: Portable Bluetooth speaker from Harman Kardon; I use it on all my training and work trips.

Your most memorable Diwali: The one I spent as an eight-year-old in my sister’s home in Pune. All my cousins were there. What made it even better was when I heard that my holidays were extended by a week; it was a real bonus.

Abhay Rustum Sopori 

Santoor player & music composer

Your Diwali wishlist: I am currently working towards introducing music as a subject in Jammu and Kashmir at the school level, and I wish it happens this year so that the children get a musical academic curriculum from the next academic session. 

The best Diwali gift given: Exchanging gifts was not part of Kashmiri culture, neither was playing cards or burning crackers. So I don’t remember having given any special gifts. But I remember having performed for Mataji Nirmala Devi during Diwali celebrations in the mid-2000s. She blessed me and that was a special moment for me.

The best Diwali gift received: Both my nephews, Soumil and Soham, feel that Diwali should be celebrated without crackers so that we don’t contribute to the pollution. I think a concern for nature and the planet is the best gift I could have ever received. 

Your most memorable Diwali: Diwali is always a time for rejoicing as traditionally in Kashmir we worship goddess Lakshmi by lighting up houses and streets with clay lamps using pure mustard oil and exchange Nabat Naut, traditional Kashmiri sweets. My memorable Diwali celebration was in 2007 when my nephew Somil, the GenNext of the Sopori family was born. We had a lot of diyas that year.