My mom is in her late 40s, and she has a better social life than me.
With eight Diwali party invites, excluding the social events that she is obliged to go to, girlfriend has been juggling her festive calendar and how.
On the other hand, I am 24, with no invitations and almost zero excitement for the bling-and-glam season.
I was taught that Diwali is a festival of lights. However, Instagram makes it look like the festival of ring lights, filters, loud parties, and fuelling FOMO.
But I wonder, if I were invited to a Diwali party, would I even go?
My mom knows how to handle an overwhelming crowd. She knows that dressing is subjective, and so are other people’s opinions about us.
So, when she attends a party, she isn’t trying to justify her worth with the number of invites she gets or the number of girls who compliment her outfit. She knows how to enjoy her own company, even when she is surrounded by friends or acquaintances.
However, I know I’d find excuses the moment someone sends me an invite.
You know why?
Because somewhere between the first Diwali outfit check and the seventeenth “house party at mine” post, Diwali started to feel less like a festival and more like a performance of belonging.
I don’t want to find my belonging in a crowd that might overwhelm me or put me into an anxiety spiral.
So, I think the FOMO was never about an invite. Rather, it was always about wondering how everyone else belongs somewhere and you must find a place too.
And circling back to my mom, she is happy at her seventh Diwali party. She must be gorging on a kaju katli at the moment.
ARC