Diwali, Six
Time Zones Away
Watching Lakshmi puja over a video call at 4am your time, phone propped against a coffee mug. A story about celebrating from far away.
August 2026 · 4 min read
My Diwali Starts at 4am, in a Kitchen Nobody Else Is Awake In
The puja back home happens at a time that means I'm setting an alarm for the middle of my night, propping my phone against a coffee mug so both hands are free, watching my mother arrange the sweets through a screen that keeps freezing every time someone else in the building hogs the WiFi. It's not the Diwali I grew up with. It's the one I get.
The Call Ends and the Worrying Doesn't
We hang up after the aarti, and that's usually where the evening goes quiet for me — she's off to the temple next, then to a neighbor's for a while, and I'm left doing the thing I always do after we disconnect, which is wonder how the rest of her night actually goes without a camera pointed at it.
An Ocean Away, and I Still Knew When She Got Home
This year, a little after what would've been midnight for her, my phone buzzed on its own — she'd reached home safe from the temple. I hadn't asked, she hadn't thought to text, it just showed up, the same small arrival alert that works whether you're two streets away or two continents away. I went back to sleep actually able to sleep.
It Doesn't Close the Distance. It Just Makes It Quieter.
No notification replaces being there to actually light the diyas together, and I still feel every bit of the years I've missed. But there's a specific kind of relief in not having to lie awake calculating whether she's home yet, whether the streets near the temple are too crowded, whether I should've asked her to just video call one more time before bed. This year I didn't have to calculate any of it. I just knew.
Next Year I'm Trying to Be There in Person
I say that every year, and most years work gets in the way again. Until then, this is the version of Diwali I have — a 4am call, a frozen video feed, and a small notification later that tells me the person I love most on this day made it home safe, from six time zones away.