MUMBAI: There are a few days left for Diwali and everyone is getting set to start Diwali cleaning. However, this year due to Covid, this has become tough as a lot of people have no external help even for housework. Actors tell us how they plan to complete this task this year! 

Arun Mandola: I am Delhi boy and we North Indians are crazy about Diwali. Diwali is one of my favourite festivals and already I have started Diwali cleaning. Generally, I love cleaning my house and Diwali cleaning makes me very nostalgic. During my childhood, my father and I always used to clean our house together. But from many years, I am in Mumbai, and the atmosphere here is different. This year, I am not calling anyone for my help because of the pandemic. My tips to my fans are if you clean your house a little bit every day then you can finish cleaning the entire place till Diwali. 

Prakriti Nautiyal: The situation due to the Covid-19 outbreak has made things quite challenging. Luckily, our society has permitted us to call our house help for work. Regular temperature checks, masks and all other sanitization is done, keeping all the necessary precautions in mind. My Diwali cleaning has already begun as it was much needed. I have 5 cats so I have to be sure that all the fur from the nooks and corners are cleaned out. I am also making sure this Diwali to also give away a lot of stuff.  I think we all need to do this during this year's Diwali cleaning. Anything that can be repurposed be it footwear, cosmetics, clothes, bags that are not serving you personally, I urge you to not discard them,  instead give it to someone who can use it. Even torn clothes can be made into quilts for our stray animals as winters are just around the corner. This way, our home becomes clutter-free and nothing is wasted at the same time. 

Vijayendra Kumeria: Our house helps stay with us so it’s a great relief for us. But Diwali cleaning is an extra chore and you need external help for it for sure. But this year, it’s not safe to get help from outside. So we all will help each other in this cleaning task and will do it together. My tip to everyone one is just divide the whole cleaning process into different days, instead of cleaning the whole house in one go... pick one room at a time and clean it for two hours a day. This would be easy for sure. 

Rajshri Rani: Due to the pandemic, there is no external help. There is no servant or staff to help out. But, on the other hand, it’s good also as you get to know about your cleaning strengths. There are no tricks for cleaning because it’s not science or maths. It’s really simple, take a dry cloth and a wet cloth aur ho jao shuru! 

Prateek Rana: Diwali cleaning is my favourite part of the festival. I love to clean my place. My family and I will be cleaning the house together. We will buy new things for our home. The cleaning has been started and we are planning to paint our home this Diwali by ourselves. Many of us are aware of the belief that Goddess Lakshmi will grace a clean and nicely decorated home with wealth and fortune. So, in our home and in many parts of India it is a ritual to clean the house and deck it up with lights and flowers. It is important to dispose of unwanted and unused materials from your home. 

Ajay Singh Chaudhary: Diwali cleaning has been started. We have one live-in house help, so it is not that big of an issue. But we also have a child, so we all have to pitch in. Some time back, our househelp was not with us, she was in her hometown. Those three-four months taught us a lesson. During my childhood, I used to help my mother in household chores. I belong to a very middle-class family and we used to do all our work by ourselves 

Oye Kunaal: Diwali cleaning is not too much work this year as because of Covid-19, we are cleaning the house every day. We will decorate our house to create a positive vibe. I always celebrate Diwali in my hometown but this year my plan is to celebrate Diwali with my house help. I really appreciate my house help, my building guards and all and so I will celebrate this year with them. I am done with the cleaning for the year. I urge everyone to be safe and share your Diwali with your loved ones, spread positivity. Due to this Covid-19, many negative things have come up and it is important to spread positivity. 

Delnaaz Irani:  My Diwali cleaning happens before Dusshera and so we have been blessed with 24/7 house help. I have a maid too so I don’t think I would have a problem this year. Diwali cleaning is definitely very time consuming and you definitely need help. We have almost finished. When the building allowed for us to get our maids back, I started calling my house help. I also have a live in servant. This time is also about letting the mind, body and soul be refreshed with a positive attitude. Let’s not think that this year was bad as we have all gone through this together. Don’t stress out if you don’t have help and cannot clean. Please beautify the house by lighting diyas. It’s important to not stress out just because Diwali cleaning is to be done. 

Rohit Choudhary: By the grace of God, I have house help. Most of the people I know have no help and are doing everything on their own. I want every house to have food on Diwali. I want everyone to light diyas and celebrate. I am trying to help my family members with household chores even though I have house help. We have started cleaning and decorating our house and I want that not only me, everyone should have a great Diwali. 

Pranitaa Pandit: Thanks to Covid-19, I think our Diwali cleaning started long back as the whole year we have been cleaning and trying to maintain hygiene. This year, we will be not celebrating in a big. We will be doing a little Pooja at our place with only our family members. We are not going out this year and playing cards, nor are we doing anything extra. This is going to very special Diwali for all of us as we will be with our family members. I have been blessed with proper house help throughout this Covid-19 time and so Diwali cleaning has not been an issue. 

Aneesha Madhok: I believe that we should clean our houses every Diwali. As the tradition goes we clean our houses, light Diyas so that the goddess of money, Lakshmi comes. I think we should focus on cleaning the environment as well as cleaning our minds of all materialistic things that we have been focusing on.