#thread.nikolai

There was nothing like a good oil bath to start off Diwali, and despite the way his kids would every single year complain about the tradition, they would also always participate. They’d soak them all in oil, and then they’d all take a hot bath after rinsing off all of it again. He always felt better after it, new, clean, reinvigorated. When people asked, he’d joke that it was the reason why he still looked so young at forty-seven. 

He did a special class on Diwali at the art-shack, making the oil lamps used at night to battle the darkness. It rarely got very popular, with only a handful of people showing up. But the promise of Mithai at least got a few more to show up. 

“Hello Nikolai, I hope you’re here to participate and not just to eat all the snacks,” he said in jest, as he offered the box of assorted Indian snacks. “Though, of course, I’d totally accept it if it’s just the snacks.”