Bright & Beautiful

When it comes to decorating your house during Diwali, the first thing that comes to mind are lights. Give your house a contemporary look with an assortment of candles and diyas. Floating aromatic candles will not only make your home beautiful, but also render a peaceful aura. If you want to keep it traditional, bring home colourful earthen lamps that are ornamented with sequins and can be found in different shapes. Diyas made of metal and stone with idol of Ganesh attached to them, with an antique finish, are equally appealing. Float the diyas in vases decorated with flower petals or place these on doorsteps on ceramic, metal or glass stands to give your house a perfect Diwali look. Candle stands and flower cutwork votive lamps are perfect gifts to cheer up your loved ones.

Where: The traditional diyas are available near Khaitan Market, outside Patna Women’s College and Maurya Lok Complex. Aromatic and designer candles are available at Archies Gallery, the best designer diya collection is available at Greet and Gift, Fern n Petals and Puspanjali.

Pocket pinch: The small and medium sized diyas cost Rs 60 a dozen. The aromatic candles and lamps start from Rs 200 and go up to Rs 1,500.

Greet in style

So do you remember when was the last time you greeted your friends and family members with cards? Surprise them this Diwali with dazzling cards with sweet and touching messages. Archies has an extensive collection of calendar quotes on Diwali this year. Spread the festive spirit among your friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues and loved ones with warm greetings and free hugs. Designer paper carry bags are the latest picks at the shop. Just go and grab it for your near and dear ones and greet them in style.

Where: The cards and calendar with simple quotes are available at Archies Gallery. There are few local shops on Boring Road and Raja Bazaar where you can have a look.

Pocket Pinch: Price of the cards starts from Rs 35 and goes up to
Rs 120. The quotes calendar costs around Rs 220 with four variants.

Just for the ladies

Warning: This can be dangerous for your hubby’s pocket! All ladies must have pulled up their socks to make their “golden choice”. This time of the year is considered auspicious to buy jewellery, especially the yellow metal. From bangles to rings to lavish necklaces, gold is carved in intricate and stunning designs for the festive season. To be different this year, one may try collecting sparkling diamonds to go with the dazzling attires donned for the festival. Tanishq is celebrating the festive season with a wide collection of gold jewellery in the Grandiose wedding collection to exotic kundan and polki from the stunning Aarka collection. One can also find exclusive Nakashi-work ornaments. There are exotic pieces in the diamond section, each unique and splendid in design. If you have planned for some pocket-friendly expenses you can take gold and silver coins and bars. This Diwali, you have the choice of golden idol of Lakshmi Ganesh and a Rs 1,000-golden note.

Where: Tanishq and Geetanjali jewellers seem to be in a competition as both of them have exquisite collection of jewellery. But for traditional jewellery you can get down to Hira Panna Jewellers. Don’t forget to take home the gold coins!

Pocket Pinch: There are two ranges of silver coins available from Rs 300 and Rs 600 whereas gold coins range between Rs 1,600 and Rs 32,000. The gold neckpiece starts from Rs 25,000 and goes up to Rs 2,15,744 (Rs 3,120 per gm). The diamond hot picks range between Rs 2,50,000 and Rs 7,80,000.

Sweet nothings

Diwali celebrations are incomplete without the wide range of sweets that confectioneries offer during the festive season. The heart-warming ritual of exchanging sweets is to strengthen bonds with our neighbours, friends and relatives. With the changing times the sweet packs come in new avatars. The gorgeously decorated boxes also add to the glamour of the festival. The designer boxes come as packs of dry fruits such as kishmish, kaju, pista and almonds. Shoppers may pick these stone-studded and beautifully crafted sweet boxes to gift or even offer sweets to friends and relatives visiting during Diwali.

Treat your taste buds with not just sweets but to truckloads of chocolates in exotic flavours.

The sweet shops are offering kaju laddoo, chocolate barfi, chocolate sandesh and chocolate rasgulla. Just to give you a Diwali feel, the sweets are named on the lines of crackers such as kaju charkha, chocolate aanar and Ganesha’s laddoo. For those who love chocolates, the sweet shops have a wide range of homemade chocolates wrapped in glittering packs. Yummy ain’t it!

Where: Though we have lots of sweet shops around the city, t2 best buy shops are Sweet home, Jalpan, Cozy Sweets and Dauji.

Pocket Pinch: The sweet packs consist of kaju barfi, modak, laddoo and soanpapdi ranging between Rs 255 and Rs 400. The cute chocolate packs range between Rs 150 and Rs 300.

Compiled by Shambhavi Singh