Diwali (Deepawali)

In each legend, myth and story of Deepawali lies the significance of the victory of good over evil; and it is with each Deepawali and the lights that illuminate our homes and hearts, that this simple truth finds new reason and hope. From darkness unto light — the light that empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds

As we all know, Leicester has a huge Indian/Hindu population and subsequently the Diwali celebrations are the biggest held outside India. We decided to head nto the city centre to see the lights, enjoy the atmosphere and watch the fireworks.

Good old fanny is called on to guide us in and we set off, went particualrly smoothly until we arrived at the centre and realised that the 35,000 other people had decided this was a good spot to be... a couple of "interesting" driving manourves meant we actually were right alongside the closed off streets and somewhat stuck in the traffic...as we edged toward the roundabout along with 2 gazillion other cars... i decided that, i might be in the left hand lane...but i needed to turn right...and turn right i would... and turn right i did 
:)

We once again were lucky to find a great park.. just a 5 minute walk and we were in the heart of the Diwali celebrations, thousnads of people wandering the streets, beautiful lights on every posts, music drifting through the streets, firecrackers going off all around and the vibrant and beautiful colours of Sari's in the windows of the shops.

Oh, did i mention it was raining? just a light drizzle which seemed to enhance the lights even more. All in all it was a fabulous evening and such an interesting comparison to going to fireworks in OZ... for example, sky show.. you all get there.... layout your blanket and watch as kids run about kicking up the dust... in england.. you get there.. try really hard to not slip over on the wet muddy grassed area.. watch the kids skidding along on the wet ground...then try to find a position where you can see some of the stage between the myriad umbrellas... heres an interesting idea.. if someone can come up with a use for broken, discarded umbrellas... there is a fortune to be made, on every corner, in every bit of empty land you will see the bent and broken umbrellas trapped under trees and squashed against walls.

The fireworks were delighful and we made our way out of town and off on the trip home...again wonderfully smooth and just a pleasurable evening.

My next update will cover bonfire night :)