For actor Divyenndu, Dhanteras means bringing home something auspicious and keeping family traditions alive. One ritual he continues to follow is buying silver coins, which are also part of the family’s Diwali pooja. “Those silver coins, I think. We have a tradition of using them as part of our Diwali pooja. My mom always made sure we brought them home every year,” he says. While he believes in making an auspicious purchase, his wife, Akanksha Dahiya, takes charge of the planning. “I am so busy shooting, I don’t know what to do. But my wife takes all of these decisions. She tells me what to do. So, Akanksha is the best judge. But yeah, I am a firm believer that we should do something auspicious and we make it a point to follow those traditions every year,” he says.
Dhanteras also reminds him of the first big gift he bought for his mother after he started earning: a fully automatic washing machine. “I gifted them a swanky new washing machine, fully automatic. When I started earning, I was like, this is one thing, you know, every woman deserves.” The family had earlier used a semi-automatic, two-tub machine. “I remember gifting them the front-loading thing was the big thing back in the day. That was my gift to them, I was like now you chill,” he recalls.
Now based in Mumbai, the 43-year-old says his childhood Diwalis in Delhi remain special. “I think somewhere deep down inside, I am still that Delhi boy. Because Diwali and all these days like Dhanteras, Choti Diwali, they are very big in Delhi.” Growing up near North Campus, he remembers the festive shopping, family outings and food. “All those childhood memories, how we used to go out, eat a lot of food, sweet food. We used to shop a lot. How we used to get money separately for Diwali, as our shopping money. Everyone coming together, celebrating; all this combined brings back happy memories for me.”
Food was central to those celebrations, with his mother insisting that the family eat out instead of cooking at home. “In our house, my mom used to say that for the five-six days of Diwali, we have a challenge that we never cook. She said that there will be no cooking at home, rather we will all go out and eat. Delhi being very big on street food, during Diwali, it became even more,” he says. He also remembers Kamla Nagar lighting up for the festival. “I mean, it all gets decked up with all the lights and everything. So, yeah, every day is such a joy. All those memories are so special.”
{{/usCountry}}Food was central to those celebrations, with his mother insisting that the family eat out instead of cooking at home. “In our house, my mom used to say that for the five-six days of Diwali, we have a challenge that we never cook. She said that there will be no cooking at home, rather we will all go out and eat. Delhi being very big on street food, during Diwali, it became even more,” he says. He also remembers Kamla Nagar lighting up for the festival. “I mean, it all gets decked up with all the lights and everything. So, yeah, every day is such a joy. All those memories are so special.”
{{/usCountry}}Despite his shooting schedule, Divyenndu makes time for festive preparations at home. “I’m 100% hands-on. But me and my partner Akanksha Dahiya, we make sure that both of us are there to do every small little detail,” he says, adding that his wife ensures he stays involved in everything.
This year, however, work is likely to leave him with little time to celebrate. “It’s going to be a full-on working festival. And this actually is a very busy time for the Hindi film industry every year. So Diwali ke liye hardly I take out like two days if I’m very lucky. And otherwise, it’s all work, work, work here,” he says. He prefers spending time with family and close friends over attending large industry parties. “I don’t really go out for parties. But yeah, like two, three places where, you know, I really know the people. But otherwise, I tend to avoid the big gatherings where, you know, it’s just not my thing.”
His wish this festive season is for cleaner air, particularly with Mumbai struggling with poor AQI. “As you can see in my cough, Bombay is going through the worst phase right now. It’s got such a bad AQI. I really want some goodness, some godly power to come and, you know, just save us from this dystopian world we see right now. It’s really sad,” he says.