“Arrey kitna kaam hai… Agle hafte diwali hai. Gifts bhi dene hai. Uth. Purey din TV, TV bas. Chal. Main kitchen kar rahi hu, tu rakhte jaa saaman balcony me.” — Maa
So, yeah, the festival of light, Diwali or Deepavali, has been an emblem of lights and sweets and rangoli and festivities. And suddenly, everything gets so sparkly and spacious and sundar ✨ But hey! Y’all know the backstory, don’t you?
The whole family used to come together and we had our own spick-n-span cleanliness drive every year — Diwali ki Safai!
So, you know you’re a DESi if you’ve assisted your parents in ghar ki safai for Diwali. 10 days before the festival, and it all began…
7am. Our checklist was ready:
Bucket – one with soapy water and one with plain water ✅
Old clothes – to clean the almirahs, rooms, floors, everything! ✅
Jhadu, pocha, stool ✅✅✅
Water & Snacks ✅
Changed to old, torn clothes ✅
Han mummy, aa rahi hu!!! And thus begins: Diwali par ghar ki safai…
Here’s to reliving all our Diwali memories with the “Ghar-ki-Safai” game edition!
1. Detective: Lost & Found
So, all almirahs were unpacked, drawers unloaded, and every single item was scrutinized – whether we need it or can donate it. And oh the joy of finding those missing items which had been lost since forever — t-shirts, notes, cards, dice, jewelry… missing items that got lost in the deepest shackles of the almari. Or behind the bed! 🤭
2. Treasure Hunt
Diwali ki safai turned into our own DESi treasure hunt. And damn, we got rich. Finding those lost bhua-ke-rakhi-wale-paise (cough,ashirwaad!), our “savings” neatly hidden beneath the newspaper liner, coins behind the bed… Diwali is truly the festival of prosperity 😅
3. Pictionary: A Box of Memories
No ghar ki safai was complete without rediscovering old photo albums. Remember, how we used to clean the stuff inside the bed and suitcases, only to find those long-lost photos of our childhood in weird clothes, or one with mango all over our face! We know… we all have one of those! And… spending the rest of the afternoon cherishing those moments 😍
4. Khatron Ke Khiladi: Diwali
“And because I was a kid… I was made to climb up on that freakin-high loft aka duchhati. And also because I was the only one who could fit inside it.” So, the usual setting was — stool, stool ke upar mum, mum ke upar main, trying to climb up to the storage space above… And oh the horror of finding spiders inside! 🕸🕷 Don’t we all have those safai moments?
5. Market Run
Nope. This was not any ordinary Temple Run on the phone. It was the time-crunching run of our lives to get the items we needed during the safai. The faster, the better. Colin, soap, lakshman-rekha (to keep those ants away!!!) — frooti and eclairs as our prize for multiple runs! As kids, we would have to run to the market, or even the neighbors… Aunty, stool de do. Mummy ne bola hai. <insert awkward face while waiting> 🙄
6. Home Renovator
Beds shifted, cushions in the sun, curtains given for washing. And mum and dad turning into interior designers by coming up with a new “fresh” look by shifting wardrobe and bed settings. And all that space that came with it! Diwali ki safai wasn’t that bad after all. And…… Shouting in clean rooms and hearing your echoooooo!!!... (Comment if y’all did it too!)
7. CoD: Call of Dust
All said and done… But, aaj tak samajh nahi aya… Itni dhool aati kaha se hai bhai 🤧
And then, at the end of a long, tough, dusty, hard-working day… the only dirty thing was us! Oh, the irony 😅
But… Nothing, I repeat, nothing can replace those chats with dad in between cleaning, annoying siblings by throwing dirty water on them, helping mum in whatever little way we could.
Diwali cleaning was much more than safai. It was a time of bonding, of cherishing what’s gone, and getting ready for what’d come. And when the lights went on… it was a scene from the heavens!
