Time to teach next gen Diwali isn’t about crackers: Prabhu Mundkur

Actor Prabhu Mundkur, a dad of three - six-year-old Neka and two-year-old-twins, Naksh and Nishka, believes in teaching them young. “Diwali is the time of fun, frolic and of course, crackers. I grew up with crackers being a part of the festival. I mean, our entire generation did. But, times have changed. Just look around, the pollution levels have hit the roof. I think it is high time we teach the kids that Diwali is about lighting diyas and not bursting crackers,” he asserts.

A native of Udupi, Prabhu, who is celebrating Diwali in Bengaluru this time, misses the small-town charm of the festival. “I come from a joint family. Back in Udupi, we are a family of 100-plus members and every festival is special for us. Especially Diwali, because the festival starts with Neer Tumbo Habba (loosely translates to water-filling festival), where we fill huge bronze vessels and containers with fresh water and take a bath with the same water on the day of the festival. So, we cousins would compete to see who would fill maximum containers,” says Prabhu, adding, “When it comes to decor, on Neer Tumbo Habba, we make sure that we decorate the bathroom with flowers and diyas. Colourful rangolis are drawn around and on the vessels and containers filled with fresh water. Since I am in Bengaluru this time, I have replaced bronze vessels with plastic ones! But, hey! The tradition continues.”

Prabhu is also facing a peculiar problem when it comes to cleaning the house this year. “Neka understands cleaning and implements it to a certain extent. But Naksh and Nishka, they simply ‘follow’ their sister and end up making a bigger mess, which again is ‘clean’ according to them. So, I usually end up cleaning the home thrice,” laughs Prabhu.