"Don't eat the sweets again, last year you almost embarrassed me in front of the guests. If you do it again, I'll make sure that you sleep on the roof," said Vamika's mother.

Vamika was an Indo-American girl living in the city of Florida, USA, who had just turned 10. Vamika's family made sure that their daughter knew well about Indian cultures, traditions, and festivals, and also respected them. As soon as Vamika started growing up, the expectations of her family turned into a reality. She started enjoying and celebrating Indian cultures and festivals to the fullest.

"It's the same monologue of every other Indian mother during Diwali. If she doesn't truly understand how much I like Diwali, then that's her problem," said Vamika in reply to her mother as she proceeded to listen more from her mother while bursting firecrackers and eating sweets.

Unfortunately, Vamika lost her grandfather when she was just 8 years old. Before that, her grandfather used to feed her various sweets and tell her about different firecrackers while bursting them during Diwali.

“Beta, this one’s called a chakri, it spins like your excitement,” her grandfather used to say, laughing as sparks danced in her eyes.

Little did she know that it was the last Diwali she was going to spend with her grandfather. Since then, in the memory of her grandfather, Diwali has been a festival just for sweets, firecrackers, and love for family.

Her story relates to various people across the world of how sounds and tastes felt with love can remain as memories for a lifetime.
Because sometimes, love doesn't need words—it just needs a spark and a sweet.