Diwali 2026: The childhood festive rituals Indians are keeping alive

Diwali changes as we grow older Crowded market trips give way to midnight online shopping elaborate family preparations become quicker affairs and childhood evenings spent visiting neighbours are often replaced by packed work schedules Yet some rituals remain difficult to give up A new outfit the familiar glow of clay diyas or making rangoli with a parent can bring back the warmth of celebrations pastFor many young Indians keeping these traditions alive is less about recreating childhood and more about holding on to the people memories and little gestures that made the festival special We spoke to four young professionals about the Diwali rituals they have carried into adulthoodPassing on the sweetness of childhoodFor fashion and beauty creator and model Sirin Hazari who grew up in Kolkata Diwali meant an entire neighbourhood coming together Childhood celebrations were filled with spontaneous visits new clothes and the excitement of returning home with pockets full of sweets When I was a kid Diwali meant the whole building turned into one big family My friends would drag me out the minute the sun went down Wed burst crackers till our ears rang run from house to house in our brandnew clothes and come back with our hands full of kaju katli and besan ladoos My mum would pretend to be annoyed about all the sugar She never actually stopped me she fondly reminiscesThe excitement began days before the festival with family shopping trips through crowded market lanes A week before wed all go to the market together Hours of squeezing through crowded lanes bargaining my dad losing patience at the third shop I didnt think about it much back then It was just what we didAdulthood however has made Hazari more conscious of what those seemingly ordinary celebrations meant Last year work kept her away from home and she spent Diwali alone in a rented flat Diwali has this way of pulling everyone home You see it in the traffic the packed trains the family WhatsApp groups that suddenly come alive And if youre not with your people during it you feel it Last year work kept me away and I spent Diwali alone in a rented flat Honestly it was the quietest Ive ever feltToday she has found her own way of recreating the neighbourhood warmth she grew up with She has moved away from bursting crackers but continues the tradition of sharing sweets I pack small boxes of mithai and leave them at my neighbours doors the way those aunties once filled my handsThe one thing has not changed her desire to celebrate with family Whatever it takes wherever I am I go home Diwali taught me that festivals arent about who they belong to Theyre about who you share them withThe comfort of familiar ritualsFor writer and anchor Ankit Dokania who hails from Dumka in Jharkhand Diwali was as much about the preparations as the festival itself Diwali has never been just about the festival itself It was the days leading up to it that made it special I remember how the entire house would come alive with preparations There was always something to clean something to decorate and of course a lot of excitement around deciding where the diyas would go I would often find myself helping my family with little things even if my contribution was mostly getting in the wayOf all those memories lighting diyas with his family is the one tradition he has consciously preserved No matter how busy life gets or how much our celebrations have changed I still make it a point to light them myself There is something incredibly grounding about that simple act It takes me right back to being a child watching the house light up one diya at a timeGrowing up in a smaller hometown also meant that Diwali extended beyond the family home Neighbours visited one another sweets were exchanged and relatives came together For Dokania preserving these customs is less about reproducing every detail of the past and more about keeping those memories close He poses Some traditions dont need to be reinvented They just need to be continuedThe rangoli that brings her back to her motherFor Jayantika Mehrotra a lawyer based in New Delhi Diwali is inseparable from memories of making rangoli with her mother What seemed like an ordinary childhood activity has become one of the traditions she treasures most The mornings were spent sitting together outside their home choosing colours working out patterns and patiently filling in each detail ldquoEvery Diwali morning my mother and I would sit together making rangoli outside our home I was never very good at it but she would patiently help me get the colours and patterns right Back then I didnt realise how precious those slow mornings were Today with work and everyday responsibilities taking up so much of my time I make sure I create at least a small rangoli every Diwalirdquo she recallsEven if she cannot recreate those elaborate childhood designs the ritual keeps her connected to her mother ldquoSometimes I call her to ask how to make a particular pattern or to help me remember a design we used to create together It brings back those mornings when we could sit for hours experiment with colours and laugh over patterns that didnt turn out quite right I think growing up makes you realise that the things you miss most arent always the grand celebrations Sometimes its simply sitting beside your mother getting colours all over your hands and having nowhere else to berdquo says the 31yearoldThe joy of dressing up and keeping family traditions aliveFor Mumbaibased fashion creator Jhanvi Bhatia Diwali is one of the most exciting times of the year She looks forward to the festive atmosphere dressing up in traditional Indian outfits and going all out with statement jewellery For her the celebrations are as much about expressing her love for festive fashion as they are about holding on to the little family rituals that make the occasion special ldquoOne tradition that has stayed with us over the years is buying a new outfit every Diwali My dada started it insisting that we get something new no matter what and wear it for the Dhanteras puja Its something we still follow to this day and I love having an excuse to shop for more sarees Theres something lovely about having a new outfit set aside for the occasion It makes the celebrations feel even more special and its a tradition I look forward to every yearrdquoAnother ritual she particularly enjoys is making rangolis which leaves plenty of room for creativity She is especially fond of seeing how younger generations continue to embrace the tradition often taking it in imaginative new directions ldquoI think thats one thing Gen Z has definitely not forgotten People get together and become so creative and Im always in awe of those largerthanlife designs I think thats the beauty of Diwali everyone meeting and celebrating traditions togetherrdquoThe little things that stay with usThe celebrations may have become shorter shopping more convenient and decorations easier to put together but these four stories reveal how little rituals can hold on to something much bigger A box of sweets can carry forward a neighbours kindness a diya can bring back the warmth of a childhood home and a rangoli can become a reminder of time spent with a parentPerhaps the beauty of keeping traditions alive is not having to recreate it perfectly It is enough to make room for the little things that remind us where we come from and who we share the festival with