This year, the Shah family celebrated Diwali in various ways from celebrating at the boys' school and conducting our annual Dhanteras Pooja and Chopra Poojan with a traditional dinner with Dada and Ba to having a Diwali and Birthday party for Ba at home with all of our Dallas family members!
First we celebrated at Krish and Arjun's school where Mommy led the Lower School and Preschool Diwali celebrations this year! It was an awesome experience planning the programs, decorating the LS and Preschool entrances with beautiful peacock Rangoli designs (since the peacock is the unofficial mascot of Greenhill), sharing the story and traditions of Diwali with all of our schoolmates and dressing up teachers and administrators in traditional Indian saris and kurtas! We also shared traditional Indian food snacks like samosas, plantain chips, and mango juice, and many classes, including Arjun's, painted diyas or created their own Rangoli art with Rangoli powder or colored rice!
 |
| Ms. Anita drawing out the peacock design in chalk. |
 |
Mrs. Whitfield's class learning about Rangoli while we
worked on it. |
 |
| Mommy and Ms. Anita filling in with Rangoli! |
 |
The beautiful peacock in a flower. SO proud
of our work! |
 |
Krish helping his art teacher, Mrs. Aidela draw out the design
for the Lower School peacock Rangoli display. |
 |
| The beautiful finished product! |
 |
| Susmita, Mrs. Fitzgerald (Head of PS) and I |
 |
| Mom, Mrs. LaMendola, and I |
 |
| Mrs. Whitfield's class' Rangoli artwork |
 |
| Raina's Dad reading Arjun's PreK class the Diwali story |
 |
| PreK students painting their diyas! |
 |
| Ms. Gio and Mr. Browne - PS teachers all dressed up! |
 |
Mr. Simpson (Head of LS) with faculty and
students |
 |
Krish reading his portion of the Diwali
presentation to the 2nd grade class! |
 |
| Arjun and Kaia :) |
 |
Mommy and Arjun with his Head of School,
Mrs. Fitzgerald in front of the PS Rangoli display! |
It was an amazing experience being so involved with the boys and their school for two weeks and being able to share our culture and traditions with all our schoolmates! I look forward to being involved again next year!
This year we also hosted a little Diwali/Birthday party at home for the first time with all of our Dallas cousins and their little ones! We got to celebrate Ba's birthday and do sparklers in celebration of Diwali! I made a nontraditional Diwali meal consisting of sweet potato black bean quinoa burgers, coconut lentil soup, and a quinoa energy salad. Everyone seemed to like it, so I'll take it as a hit!
 |
| Dhruv doing sparklers! |
 |
| Shreya doing sparklers! |
 |
| Mommy and Arjun! |
 |
| Ami Mami and Aayush! |
 |
| Anupa, Nilaybhai, Dhruv and wiggly Devak! |
 |
| Dada, Ba, Krish and Arjun! |
 |
| Dada, Ba, Kyna and Shreya! |
 |
| Deepa, Vijay and Tatva! |
In addition to our many Diwali firsts this year, the boys are participating in the third Annual Diwali Charity Banquet and Show they participate in every year. They have been practicing their Bollywood routines since September and are really looking forward to performing next weekend! Of course we, as parents, can't wait to watch! Their routines have been getting more advanced every year, and it is a family tradition we look forward to every year! Stay tuned for the post!
