15 days: Happy Diwali!

No fireworks or mithai for me today - it's another working day in the Migritude countdown. I'm not sure if that makes me obsessive, practical, dedicated, or just sad.

I have mixed feelings about Diwali. When I wrote Today I Dismantled My Gods, I was serious about relinquishing all ritual that had been co-opted by Hindutva. I've relaxed a little in the subsequent years. But any Diwali celebration that doesn't specifically ally itself with anti-communalism, isn't explicity progressive in it's politics, makes me queasy.

But for everyone who's celebrating Diwali out there - may it be filled with light and warmth and joy. And may it strengthen your commitment to radical progressive secularist Hinduism, that challenges the forces of fascism and fundamentalism.