Diwali means different things to different people. For young netizens, it signals the victory of kaju katli over soan papdi as a traditional gifting item through viral memes. Others, like content creator Dhairya Gandhi, 25, see it as a festival of lights akin to a bright-eyed Japanese anime replete with special effects of a radiant atmosphere, twinkling lights, noisy streets and uber-youthful energy. A sizeable number of youngsters, like marketing professional Aalia Mohan, 22, think of it as the ultimate family bonding time, because it forces family members with busy lives to be together for at least one night. Yet others, like content creator duo Shubham Singh and Dhruv Bisht, who run a popular page called Funyaasi, hail it as a time to create memories, and especially love posting their #OOTD images on social media with the perfect aesthetic background to match the vibe.
Welcome to Diwali 2022. Here, culture reigns supreme with the religious significance of the festival coming a distant second. Though pujas, traditions and family time have their place, they are often superseded by the act of dressing up, eating fine food, giving and receiving gifts, playing ‘Teen Patti’, dancing, and catching up with loved ones. In keeping with their social-media-governed lives, the Gen-Z adapts age-old customs to make Diwali bespoke, aesthetically appealing and content-optimised. They wear sneakers with thigh-high-slit lehenga cholis; want gelato and organic skincare products as gifts; participate in only some of the pujas but all of the family revelries, even adopting their friends as family when living away from home; and most importantly, go out of their way to prove that their generation operates on #PositiveVibesOnly—both on the ‘gram and off it. Take it from content creator and actress Vishwa Joshi. “I enjoy the rituals, but everyone has their own view, and everyone has the right to follow their beliefs,” says the 20-year-old. Everyone does have this right, and they exercise it too. Case in point: a search for hashtag #diwali on Instagram throws up 9M posts and #diwali2022 already has upward of 160k posts.
In a digitally driven, post-pandemic world, the festival is more popular than ever before. In the run-up to Diwali this year, we speak to people in the 13-25 age group, many of whom are at the forefront of digital mediums and often dictate trends. Their clear-headed preferences point to change, but also give strength to the overlying principle that trends come and go, yet the emotions linked with tradition stay the same. Call it old wine in a new bottle if you will, but Gen-Z aren’t that different from their slightly older counterparts (millennials), or their parents (Gen-Xers) or those before them (Boomers). Still, if you feel befuddled about young people’s thoughts and actions, we are here to help you decode them.
Fundas of Food
Remember the days of devouring kaju katlis and motichoor ladoos because our homes were overrun with them during Diwali time? Now, the bingeing may continue, but the substances being consumed have changed. Though the list of mithai brands runs longer than the River Nile, run-of-the-mill mithais simply don’t make the froufrou gifting cut, especially if it is the woebegone soan papdi. Fancy, and therefore highly-priced, mithai brands are being favoured for their packaging and brand value, and Diwali party meals include unique vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare from around India and the world, especially if it is made by home chefs and is authentic. Ahmedabad-based Nicole Pereira Khurana moved to Delhi to offer a special limited-edition Diwali food delivery pop-up called ‘No Borders: Food for the Soul’. In a departure from traditional meals, her most popular dishes include prawn curry, methi macchi, koki, mushroom xacuti and pork vindaloo, all of which speak of her Goan, Gujarati and Sindhi heritage. The food may be experimental, but the accompanying drinks are not. Recent global studies indicate a trend that Gen Z is growing up ‘sober curious’, preferring to skip alcohol in social gatherings.
A high drinking age and family focus may have contributed to this trend in an Indian context, but learnings of the pandemic have encouraged it further. Whatever one’s grub of choice may be, the overarching theme is eating comfort food, because what is Diwali if not the most exalted form of nostalgia? Social media executive Ekanshi Garera sums it up: “It’s strange to say, but the food I associate most closely with Diwali is the tomato soup my nani and mami make when we visit them for Diwali celebrations. It signals wholesome family time and the onset of Delhi winters.”
Forms of Fashion
The Gen-Z mantra is to love yourself as you are. Self-expression through fashion is, therefore, an important aspect for them. Data scientist, South Indian actor, and content creator Siddhi Mahajankatti starts deciding on her look a month before Diwali. “I design my own clothes and also create a theme around the chosen colour for my family. This year it’s going to be orange or something in the yellow family,” says the 24-year-old. Marketing professional Reshma Malhotra Arora, 24, calls her festive style ‘heavy’, as she loves wearing jewellery and dressing up in glam outfits, and is unafraid of mixing traditional silhouettes with more modern variations.
The choice of clothing goes hand-in-hand with how well it will do on a ‘reel’. Actor Kareema Barry, 23, dictates reel trends before fashion ones, when she says, “I think a combination of English music with Bollywood for transition reels has become popular. We may be seeing some fun outfit reels on those remixes.”
Actors and social media stars continue to dictate trends such as ‘grunge ethnic chic’, which the 21-year-old Garera defines as consisting of Bohemian baggy separates made to look effortlessly stylish. Read dhotis or lehengas paired with a white shirt, long earrings and a devil-may-care attitude. Fusion apparel is also quite big with the pandemic-induced athleisure boom leading the way.
Saneer Malhotra and Vainul Gandotra, co-founders of fashion label Wake Your Dreams, say, “While the sneaker trend picked up worldwide, in India it was mixed with ethnic clothing, which is novel and modish. Carpenter jeans and cargo pants have also made a comeback. This is in the aftermath of Covid and lockdowns which made the public shift to comfortable clothing, along with the increased importance of sustainable fabrics and ethical practices. Fashion has become more free-flowing and personal, which is reflected even in Diwali fashion trends.”
Modes of Makeup
Gone are the days when makeup was considered a form to enhance one’s existing features. For the younger generation, it is a creative medium akin to art. Makeup artist Aditi Chopra says, “Gen Z prefers thick chunky highlights that frame the face and make a bold statement. They are comfortable in their own skin colour and prefer to have a go-to look that saves time and energy, yet looks glam. They like a natural sun-kissed look that isn’t too contoured, but play up the eyes with electric shadows and neon eyeliner in graphic or geometric shapes using glitter and sparkly stickers on top.”
While the outré makeup trend may have caught the fancy of many, some like Barry stick to a tried-and-tested ‘cute Diwali party aesthetic’. Ainara Kaur and Akaljyot Kaur, the founders of homegrown label Belora Cosmetics, agree, saying the young prefer a barely-there look over heavy makeup.
To this end, spending on makeup is often relegated to the back-burner, though skincare continues to do well. Nishant Jain, the Managing Director of skincare brand Omeo, shares the example of his 13-year-old daughter Ayati, who already has a vast collection of skincare. He says, “Gen Z has adopted skincare as a part of their essential daily routine. With Diwali around the corner, the demand for skincare is greater both for personal consumption and gifting options for this age group as they are willing to experiment, are conscious about their health, and value products that bring long-term benefits.” Dr Renita Rajan, dermatologist and advisor of Nayanthara’s The Lip Balm Company, adds that more people are turning away from pollution and plastics, with natural, safe and colourful being the dominant trend for both makeup and skincare, despite the price tag.
The Goals of Gifting
“Diwali gifting is no longer about laddoos or barfis. Ice creams make us nostalgic and so does Diwali—the offer of uniqueness makes gelatos a popular alternative,” says Vasuki Punj, co-founder of homegrown brand Frozen Fun Gelato. It could be argued that gifting was meant as a token to be shared by the family. Over the years, with an increased focus on consumerism and Western exposure, gifting trends have become more aligned to those of Christmas, with gifts becoming more individual in nature. Ask the trendsetters what they consider an ideal Diwali gift, and you get a plethora of options. Mahajankatti would be happiest with an iPhone, and Gandhi too prefers headphones or a smartwatch, quipping, “Sharing your Netflix password would also be quite generous.” Barry stresses on the importance of giving practical gifts to people in their early 20s, who may be living on their own for the first time, such as quilts or lamps or even toasters. Blogger Vidhya Thakkar, 25, enjoys receiving customised items like diaries, books or notepads. Garera feels gift vouchers are a fail-safe option as they ensure every party involved stays happy, though she wouldn’t mind a self-care package too.
The nature of the gifts may have changed, but the gifting ritual in the days leading up to the festival is still the same. Garera is especially fond of this aspect, as her family dresses up and visits close relatives and friends to distribute Diwali gifts, an experience many missed during the difficult Covid years. The most obvious iteration of community camaraderie is in the gifting procedure. When asked about gifting trends for this year, Gandhi makes light of these unique bonds by jesting, “Every year, I sit with my mom and decide which of the previous year’s gifts can be recycled,” following it up with, “I’m kidding, in case the relatives see this.”
Realms of Rituals
The fulcrum of the festival is in its religious significance. Yet in a modern take, Gen Z adapts the rituals to their preferences. Garera, like many others, follows the rituals only in ways she finds relevant to herself. “About a month before Diwali, my mother asks us to start cleaning up our rooms—a signal for me that Diwali is coming soon. Slowly, we clean and declutter the house, and shop for gifts as well as décor for our own house. On the morning of Diwali, we visit the Sisganj and Bangla Sahib Gurdwaras. Then we light up candles and make rangolis, visit my father’s factory for pujas, and in the evening, the family eats, drinks, dances, and just chills together,” she smiles.
This typical Diwali celebration asserts that traditions have stood the test of time. Gandhi jokes, “Preparations begin with leveraging my height to clean the fans and corners in the house. Then my engineering degree is called upon to set up the fairy lights perfectly.” Mahajankatti draws attention to the importance of South Indian rituals such as the morning aarti called Yenne Shastra. For this, the female head of the household performs the aarti for everyone else. This is followed by cooking Balele Oota, the traditional meal eaten on a banana leaf, consisting of puranpoli, rasam rice, sambhar rice, pulao and dishes on the side. In the evening, her family lights diyas around the house, decorates the place with flowers and bursts crackers.
One important ritual—perhaps for its monetary significance—is Laxmi Puja. Many youngsters claim to participate in this, even if they skip other rituals. Thakkar recounts the ritual of keeping the account books in front of a statue of Laxmi to pray for a better financial year ahead. Content Creator Alma Hussein is a Muslim, yet does the Laxmi Pooja along with her parents. “We are still learning the proper method, but we try to follow YouTube videos and go along with it,” says the 19-year-old.
Money, just like culture, shared histories and a sense of community, has no religion. India’s many cultures have intermingled for centuries, and this has only grown with increasing global exposure. Emcee and model Rida Tharana, 24, also a Muslim, celebrates Diwali and refers to it as a tradition she has grown up following in her village of Chennayanakote in Karnataka. She calls it a festival meant to be enjoyed by everyone together, a fact that “does away with the purely religious aspect of it”.
Barry, who has Parsi heritage, makes the case for the universal appeal of this festival best: “It sounds clichéd, but Diwali signifies light to me. Everywhere you look, people are glistening, and your childhood friend’s home is lit up the same way it was on Diwali 10 years ago. It’s a different kind of nostalgia that comes only with the feeling of festivity, one which we desi people are bound together in celebrating.”
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I enjoy the rituals and prayers, but I believe everyones has their own view, and the right to follow their own beliefs.
- Vishwa Joshi, actor
“We are still learning the proper method of Laxmi puja, but we try to follow YouTube videos and go along with it.”
- Alma Hussein, content creator
“While the sneaker trend picked up worldwide, in India, it was mixed with ethnic Indian clothing, which is novel and modish. Fashion has become more free-flowing and personal, which is reflected in Diwali fashion trends.”
- Vainul Gandotra, fashion entrepreneur
“We participate in all pujas and rituals because that is the most important part about the festival, especially Laxmi Puja.”
- Shubham Singh and Dhruv Bisht, content creators
“It’s a tradition I have grown up following in my village in Karnataka. The fact that Diwali is meant to be enjoyed by everyone together does away with the purely religious aspect of it.”
- Rida Tharana, emcee and model
“The food I associate Diwali with is the tomato soup my nani and mami make when we visit them for celebrations. It signals wholesome family time and the onset of Delhi winters.”
- Ekanshi Garera, Social Media executive
“Youngsters opt for thick chunky highlights that frame the face and make a bold statement. They are comfortable in their own skin colour and prefer to have a go-to look which saves time, yet looks glam.
- Aditi Chopra, Makeup artist
“Diwali signifies light to me. Everywhere you look, people are glistening, and your childhood friend’s home is lit up the same way it was on Diwali ten years ago. It’s a different kind of nostalgia.”
- Kareema Barry, actor
“I design my own clothes and I also create a theme around the chosen colour for my family. This year it’s going to be orange or something in the yellow family.”
- Siddhi Mahajankatti, actor and content creator
“Preparations begin with leveraging my height to clean the fans and corners in the house. Then my engineering degree is called upon to set up the fairy lights perfectly.”
- Dhairya Gandhi, content creator
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