Apara & Ketki celebrates diwali

Apara Mehta: The famous Savita Bhabhi and Tulsi's ma-in-law of Kyunki… is a typical Gujarati and believes in tradition to the T. "For Dhanteras,I have gifted myself, rather exchanged my old Indica car for Indigo. Though
we buy sweets I have my maid prepare chivda and a few mithais at home as well as it is customary to do so. If I get the time, I will personally decorate the house with rangoli and diyas"

Inspite of being separated from her husband and theatre actor Darshan
Jariwalla, she spends the day with her in-laws as she says, "I am modern in
thinking but very traditional at heart. I still go to my in-laws' place at
Santa Cruz to take their blessings. We Gujjus have fixed lunch and dinner
for Diwali - for instance, if I am invited over for lunch at my jethani's
(sis-in-law) place, they come over to my place for dinner. I believe Diwali
is the time to be with your kith and kin." Does that include Darshan as
well?
Elaborating further, she reveals, "Yes, Darshan too comes to his parents'
place and as always I will invite him over. It is a marriage of 25 years and
I am still waiting for him."

Ketaki Dave: She recently made waves when she participated with husband Rasik Dave in Nach Baliye on star One but is still remembered best for her performance as 'Arara..ra..raa' of Kyunki ki.. Ketaki too celebrates Diwali in a traditional manner as she gets into the details, "on Dhanteras we doLakshmi Pujan and Rasik has gifted me a pair of diamond earrings and a diamond finger ring for our daughter Riddhi. My maharaj (cook in Gujarati)
has prepared kaju katli, mohantal, chakli and chivda." The next day that is the fourteenth day (chaturdashi) the actor will prepare dal vadas and inkeeping with the time honoured custom, they will take it to the crossing of char raastas without uttering a word and throw it there to ward off evil. On Diwali day they perform chopda puja and of course the rangolis, diyas and
sparklers.

She has bought a salwar-kameez for her daughter and a lovely, sequined sari
and a gorgeous salwar-kameez for herself. Rasik does not go for traditional
clothes, so it is a pair of trousers and shirt for him. And And she has already begun to receive gifts, the first one has come from her designer Rezda, "a
beautiful 5-diya aarti filled with sweets," she enthuses while Rasik
jovially reminds her that it is his gift that came first!

Indira Krishnan: Though this south Indian beauty may be playing mother Meera to Kanchi Kaul in Ek Ladki Anjaani si on Sony Tv and Neela to Parak Madan in Saathi Re but is quite young herself. Still she believes in observing the
rituals of the festival like, "being a Tamilian, I will take the ritual oil bath and spend the day with my husband and my mother, who prepares South Indian sweets and savouries." Her Maharashtrian husband Rajesh Ranshinge,who directs Akela on Sony, took her out for dinner and gifted her a gold bracelet from D'damas for Dhanteras. Her Rajasthani cook has made karanjis and mohantal and Diwali day she says, "I will draw rangolis, light fancy diyas and distribute home-made sweets among friends." This lovely lady is looking forward to spending time with her husband as she is busy shooting on other days.

Rupa Divatia: This elegant lady who played mother to the famous Abhay Kapoor of Kkusum on Sony, is in real life quite fond of Nausheen and Anuj Saxena whom she considers as her own children and, "I normally give gifts to them and this year too we have planned to have a small get-together. Usually I go to Ahmedabad to be with my parents and my in-laws. We do Sri Puja, being a
Gujju, I do Swatika rangolis, decorate the house with thorans and light diyas." Rupa decks herself up with traditional saris and jewellery on all four days and buys a gold coin on Dhanteras. On the goodies front, she has dhudhi halwas and coconut barfis and farsans prepared at home