Away from her country, Priyanka Chopra brought Diwali to New York
Diwali is one of the biggest Indian festivals. Celebrated with lights, sweets and lots of love, it is the happiest of all. It's an occasion which many of our Bollywood celebs look forward to. This year, while the Bachchans threw a bash and Salman took his family to Goa for celebrations, global icon Priyanka Chopra celebrated Diwali in New York. Talking about the auspicious festival, PC said:
“It’s the beginning of our new year. It’s almost like our Christmas - we eat, we pray, we dress up together, we exchange gifts. It’s all about family and friends coming together.”
Priyanka chose to wear a silk saree which was gifted by her mother. She also decorated her New York Upper East Side apartment with flowers and lights. The actress performed Laxmi pooja at her place. Talking about it she said:
“These are the prayers that happen in the evening. It’s an auspicious time and a priest comes to lead the service and it’s very meditative to me. It’s the evocation of Lord Ganesha and goddess Laxmi for the New Year, and it’s just amazing to have the whole family sit together and pray. Of course, the rest of the evening is full of debauchery, which is my other favourite thing about Diwali.”
To bring in all the festive traditions, she set up blackjack and roulette tables at her apartment as well, saying:
“Gambling during Diwali is a really interesting tradition that, according to Hinduism, started when Shiva and his wife would play dice,” says Chopra. “It was a game they played often and it was eventually decided that these games would be played on Diwali and whoever would gamble that day would gain prosperity and wealth. I decided to do a spin on it and have blackjack and roulette tables set up.”
It's a well known fact that Priyanka Chopra is a complete foodie. She made sure there were laddoos and traditional mithaais served to t guests on the occasion. She also made a rangoli, and shared some childhood memories.
“I think my fondest memories of celebrating this holiday as a child were probably making rangolis with my dad. He was very artistic and we used to sit on the floor together and construct these patterns.”
If there is someone who truly embraces her ethnicity, it's this gorgeous diva! She wrapped it up by saying:
“Diwali is about hanging out with the people you love and feeling good about yourself and your life.”
Priyanka Chopra took to Twitter to wish all her fans a Happy Diwali!