What's hot this Diwali? (And we aren't talking fireworks)

Not too long ago, Diwali was all about explosive pyrotechnics and neighbourhood competitions at the fag end of Diwali night. The longest, meanest, loudest ladi in the neighbourhood meant you had earned your young neighbours’ R.E.S.P.E.C.T and consequently also earned the wrath of auntyji who never looked at you favourably to begin with. All that changed when some of us developed a ‘no cracker’ conscience and the government did their bit by imposing a no-crackers-post-11:30 pm rule. Alas, some thought Diwali would never be the same again, (although many just flouted those rules) while others found new ways of making Diwali as millennial-relevant as they could.

In keeping with the spirit of continued co-existence between traditional and modern — and finding ways to please ourselves and others — here’s what’s trending this Diwali.  Check here if you’ve been able to partake in any of these 2011 Diwali trends.

Festivities on track

Thirty-year-old Swagath Kamleshwar, from Hyderabad, is a very happy man this Diwali. A week back he was called in to his bosses’ office along with two other colleagues and given his Diwali gift in an envelope. Inside the envelope he found one ticket for the corporate boxes at the F1 and a return flight ticket. Swagath still hasn’t gotten over it and exclaims, “I am so psyched! I am a big F1 fan. The power on track, the racers, and the grid girls…there’s not much one can complain about. Such a great surprise!”

A lot of corporate houses have purchased tickets so that they can fly their top executives to F1 and the ‘lucky ones’ can optimise the experience by networking. According to Garima Khanna, 26, marketing manager, the head honchos at her office have been given F1 tickets as Diwali gifts. That comes with air conditioned comfort, food and drinks from the best restaurants in their corporate boxes at the F1. Happy Diwali indeed! Sigh…there is a God for few.

Let there be ‘light’ online.

With easy access to everything online and the outreach it allows, it’s only natural that many are using the internet for purchasing, gifting, and greeting. Flipkart started in 2007 with the objective of making books easily available online, however now sells under 11 different categories. It’s also an opportune time for them to bring out their TVCs timed right around the festive season where ‘slashed prices, festive offers, discounts’ become your guilty festive pleasures.

The very popular, eBay, warns you that you may miss the assured gift bus if you don’t purchase before 26th October.

Kanika Chopra, 27, a PhD student has already pre booked the Kindle Fire on IndiaPlaza and hopes to gift it to her brother as his Diwali present.

Mygrahak.com claims to be India’s largest food store and delivers your Diwali goodies right to your doorstep for free in Delhi and NCR region.

DealsAndYou.com has a Diwali ‘believe it or not’ offer where on every purchase worth Rs500 you can win a gift voucher worth Rs500 on FashionAndYou.com . And it doesn’t stop here.

Say goodbye to e-greetings and now light a virtual diya in the home of a loved one across the country  or even continents thanks to NRIMatters .

Aparna Bhatt Jugran, teacher, living in the UK feels it’s a great feature for people like her. All you need to do is simply type the address of a recipient’s location in the search bar to reach the destination where you want to place the diya. Once you zoom into the exact location and place the virtual diya you can send a personal message thereafter. According to Aparna, it feels like you are close to people who really matter even though you are thousands of miles away.

Relief for Manmohan?

Our usually reticent PM has appealed to the nation that instead of gifting him Diwali goodies, they should instead donate to the PM’s National Relief Fund. The PM feels that the donations will benefit thousands of people in need. The gifts which have been flooding his residence also pose a logistical problem since his staff already struggle to accommodate mementoes from foreign visits over the years. For purely charitable reasons which also benefit you this Diwali, making a donation can prove worthwhile in the long term.

Mehak Sahay, 35, says, “I am an investment banker and a lot of people I know have decided to donate to the fund instead of wasting money buying stuff for themselves. Also, it allows you to be exempted from Income Tax which works just fine for me. You can make it via post/money order from any of the post offices, without any charge which in turn means, anyone, anywhere can do it. If you are a Citibank card holder you can make it by card though.”

If they cannot have mithai, let them have cake

Who would have thought Gulab Jamun cake could exist? Master Chef India Season 1 proved they were for real and now they are available on order at bakery shops like Supreme Bakery in Delhi. Also many are choosing cakes over Indian mithais as gift-it or give-it. Butterfly cupcakes are really popular in Mumbai. According to Deepti Gothi, 29, a lawyer, “My friends prefer cupcakes over Indian sweets at Diwali parties. This Diwali we decided we’ll keep one Indian sweet on the table and others should be cakes or cupcakes.”

On this very sweet note, here’s wishing that you all keep it in-trend this Diwali.