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Called the Festival of Lights, Diwali is the biggest festival celebrated in India. It is celebrated as a sign of victory of good over evil, and light over dark. Although it was still a full day celebration for Vinay this year, there is NOTHING like celebrating Diwali in India… I missed the pretty marigolds and decorations, and seeing the fireworks light up the city. I can’t wait to share how we celebrated Diwali last year in India, stay tuned!

Vinay prepping for the morning puja (prayer).

Getting the sage ready to purify the house!

Vinay sages the house very frequently… he says it helps reduce stress 🙂

Cooking Indian breakfast dish called ragi dosa.

Celebrating Diwali in times of covid… through FaceTime.

Don’t mind the fireworks

Making Indian sweets!

Of course Bella gets extra treats for Diwali too.

Here comes my FAVORITE part… the hair oiling!!

applying all the oils ~

Making a special Diwali face mask/scrub

with a dash of aloe 🙂

Chemist in action lol

Step 1 – hot towel scrub

Step 2 – sit back and relax and apply the Diwali special face mask

This is the Diwali special body scrub, which has some oils, sandalwood powder, and a few other herbs. Its purpose is to cleanse the body and calm the mind.

It’s time for Lakshmi puja, the biggest celebration for Diwali. For 2020, the auspicious time for puja was from 5:30pm -7:30pm. It has to do with the alignment of stars.

Puja in process… there’s lots of chanting of mantras/prayers.

transferring the light and goodness from the lamps, called diyas, into the soul

Including all family members 🙂

Vinay’s final prayer to the goddess Lakshmi and Ganesh for a healthy safe year so far and to keep watching over us until next year.

Illuminating the entrance for goddess Lakshmi to enter the house to bring prosperity and good luck.

Vinay is all done with his prayers and worship and now…

It’s time for sweets!

Attached at the end is a video of us trying them all 🙂

May this Diwali fill your heart and mind with light to cast away the darkness within, and make every moment of your upcoming year shine with love.

Happy Diwali!

Indian sweets are not your typical sweets. Heres a quick video of us trying a few! Hope you enjoy and gain some courage to try some of these yourself.

This is the beginning of my journey to officially, finally ;), becoming a Patil!!! I’m so excited to take on a new culture that in the past 6 years I’ve learned to embrace, respect, and love.

I recently shared a GLIMPSE of my first trip to India on instagram. I received an overwhelming amount of feedback from people saying how much they enjoyed following along, and so many wanted to see more! Reliving those incredible moments is ultimately what inspired me to start this journal – a place to share the full details from our trip, and everything else I am continuing to learn about Vinay’s culture.

Vinay and I equally feel so lucky to have amazing families across the globe. Home without Borders simply means just that 🙂 Our hearts and homes are spread over the world, from America to India!

We made a quick video on the most commonly asked questions from my instagram stories from my first trip to India. I love how Vinay has been here for over a decade but still isn’t phased by how dangerous the safety and traffic laws(there are literally none) are in India still. you’ll see.

We have many, many more stories to share… this is just the beginning 🙂

Happy Diwali!

The Beginning