Diwali Dhamaka

Just as I promised that this would be a photo blog... but, me being me, how can I not speak? But I will definitely try and let pictures do most of the talking... For me, this years Diwali was very different from the mundane bursting-crackers-kinda fun that would come to your mind the instant you think of Diwali... 

Diwali is celebrated grandly across both Indian offices of Deloitte US (only -- for some weird reason -- we celebrated it a week earlier). I will now describe the week day-by-day beginning the Tuesday before Diwali.

Tues/Wed: We were divided into groups and each group decorated their set of cubicles on Tues evening... We also wore traditional dresses to office the next day :) Needless to say, neither did I win the Best Dressed Male nor did my team win the Best Decorated Cubicles :) Nevertheless, we had some really good time and I actually made Rangoli on the boards... Really... you can come and check, they are still there. I don't have the pictures of the Rangoli but I do have other pictures of the 2 days of fun... And for your information, our group got a special mention when declaring the results.. (We were the only group that tried to bribe the judges :D with Chocolates - Cadbury Eclairs.. damn those girls, "chotte log (height-wise), chotti soch"... else we would have won :P

The first pic is that of the project team I'm supposed to be joining soon. The next one is the rangoli made by our artist, Golu. The first pic seen below is Subbu (in white) standing with Mahadevan (the Best Dressed Male) and in the pic after that is Pavan trying out a dhoti, rather lungi. He wore a formal trouser too underneath that dhoti - safety first. ;) 

The pic below shows the girls of my gang (thats how I prefer calling my friends circle). The lady in green sari was adjudged the Best Dressed Female and she became a celebrity for a day. :) The pic below that was clicked in the cafteria (our second office).

Thats all the pictures can speak for now... So I continue...

Thurs: An old friend of mine, N, called just when I was leaving, and we decided to meet. We went to Club 8 and I (in chronological order) had chicken kababs (it had bones and I hate bones), smoked (2 in a row was the highest ever for me. Till that day, I couldn't complete even one completely), had beer (I HATE beer - be it the taste, smell or even colour), and then I drove back home (I'm completely against drink and drive, but I had no other choice)... I finally reached home at midnight and had dinner (I would rather tell my mom I drink, than skip dinner - you can reason out why)... overall I broke a lot of rules I had set for myself but I actually felt really good at the end of it all :)

Sat: I was out shopping on the outskirts of Hyderbad (heard of some real good Diwali offers there ;) ) when another old friend of mine, S, called and me, N and S decided to spend that night at N's place... Before you come to any conclusions, let me tell you that all three of us were guys and we were all straight... so just as any other boy's night out, our meeting involved booze, a discussion about girls and how the US recession represented a huge business opportunity for us (would you believe that?)... I can't seem to remember if we also decided to start a business that night :D

Sun: Yet another old friend of mine, Ad, was in hyderabad and a group of 4 school friends met at Eat Street... This meet did not involve booze, but is worth mentioning for a different reason... Ad gifted me "The Ultimate History of Ferrari" and obviously I fell in love with it at first sight for 2 main reasons... Firstly, its a book related to cars; Secondly, its about Ferrari; and a bonus reason being, there were lots of pictures of scarlet red cars...

Mon: Regular office work followed by the mundane burst-crackers-to-celebrate-diwali activity... I stayed back at a colleague's flat, and to celebrate with my colleagues - 4 guys n 4 girls... we burst crackers on the rooftop and had dinner at his place... this was special for me coz this is the closest my life has ever come to HAPPY DAYS, if you know what I mean... but the end of even this special day was identical to every other day - the girls left and I had booze with my friend... Vodka this time, and this marks the end of a week of boozing spree.

Tues: Diwali finally!! The best part?? I celebrated Diwali at my sister's place with my NEPHEW... Definitely, the best day of the entire "eventful" week and I can't describe it in words. Even pictures can't either, so I leave it for your imagination.