This Diwali was special for Malavika Mohanan, because her family moved into a new house. Amidst the shifting, the actress told BT, “We usually meet a few family friends, which we will do this year as well. I will wear something festive to get into the mood of the festival.”

Looking back at her childhood memories, she reminisced, “I grew up in Mumbai with a multicultural group of friends — Maharashtrian, Gujarati, Punjabi and Malayali. We lived in the same building and Diwali would be all about house-hopping and savouring special Diwali delicacies and dinner. We helped each other with drawing rangoli patterns outside our houses, ran around the building in new clothes, carrying phuljhadis and firecracker guns. Since I loved art and craft, I used to hand-paint diyas and pick different colours and designs for rangoli.”

How can one speak of Diwali and not discuss food? Malavika added, “Diwali, for me, is synonymous with sweets. It’s hard for me to not dive into besan or motichur laddoos when I see them. I can gobble up three-four at one go. Our generation is more into buying Diwali sweets, but my grand-mom made everything at home and ensured the boxes reached our relatives and friends on time.”