Indian-born content creator and makeup artist Aditya Madiraju looks back on his childhood memories of Diwali fondly. While festivities typically vary from region to region and family to family, Madiraju celebrated with parties larger than life, traditional foods at every turn, and family and friends dressed to the nines, donning clothes, jewelry, and makeup at the highest forms of beauty.
Diwali was the only time he remembers his late mother wearing makeup. “During Diwali, my mom would take red lipstick, put it on her lips, dab some on her fingers, and then apply it to her cheeks. Like other married women in India, she would also take some of the red and apply it to her forehead,” Madiraju says.
Growing up in India, Madiraju often practiced makeup on his mom and cousins, especially during Diwali, which led others to label him as “gay,” even though he hadn’t yet defined his own sexuality. “You couldn’t really come out because nobody understood it,” he says. “You yourself didn’t even understand it, but then you had this passion for art and makeup, and people would be saying things about you and wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
There’s a lot of pain growing up in the closet and you don’t understand what you’re going through and why some traditions are hard to celebrate, but Diwali was this safe period of the year.
Despite judgment from others and stigma around his makeup practice, Madiraju’s parents never stopped him from exploring makeup because he says they, too, saw it as “art.” This year, as Diwali approached, Madiraju sought to honor both his late mother and his queer, South Asian identity by creating two lip kits that embody Diwali with beauty brand Anastasia Beverly Hills.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to do a brand collaboration that is more than just a brand deal, but that is a piece of my identity, with my name on it, created by my own idea and execution,” Madiraju says. “I’m such a fan of Anastasia Beverly Hills and I contacted them and asked if they’d be open to me creating two Diwali-inspired lip kits and they gave me complete free reign to do so.”
For Madiraju, Diwali was the perfect holiday to launch this line because above all else, the Hindu festival of lights seeks to embody love and goodness. “Diwali is all about love and light. There’s a lot of pain growing up in the closet and you don’t understand what you’re going through and why some traditions are hard to celebrate, but Diwali was this safe period of the year because everyone just had love,” Madiraju says. As Madiraju explains, these lip kits are like love letters to fellow queer South Asians who may not have ever felt like they could combine their South Asian pride with their queer identity.
The lip kits, which each include a bundle of four lip products, are named Gulab Kiss and Spicy Chai to pay tribute to the holiday. In Hindi, gulab means rose, and Madiraju wanted to build a lip kit that embodied the love felt between family and friends during Diwali. Secondly, he says chai cannot be separated from Indian identity because “we have, like, four cups a day,” Madiraju jokes. For this bundle, he customized a nude chocolate lip combo that’s easy to pair with many kinds of Diwali looks.
This year, Madiraju is observing Diwali at his mother-in-law’s house on Oct. 31. The content creator, who currently lives in New Jersey with husband Amit Shah and their 17-month-old daughter, says Diwali celebrations are hosted by different family members each year. “It’s basically going to be like a small gala,” Madiraju says, describing his husband’s side of the family as “glamorous.” “We’ll all cook together, get ready together, have dinner together, and then chai.”
While Madiraju will always honor Diwali in large groups with beautiful attire and endless cups of chai, he also wants to start new traditions as he introduces his daughter to a different Diwali each year.
“All of the traditions I learned growing up were for heterosexual couples. There is a man, there’s a woman, they have a kid, and they give them values from each side,” Madiraju says. “I want new traditions to be created. I want queer people to say that I love the culture I was raised with, but I get to add something special to it. It could be celebrating Diwali with an inclusive community or it could be as simple as dressing up the way you want to or wearing the makeup you want to despite your gender or sexuality. This holiday should be for everybody.”
Related: 31 Diwali Gifts to Make Your Loved Ones Light Up Like a Diya
Shahamat Uddin is a freelance writer largely covering queer and South Asian issues, but also related lifestyle topics and entertainment. His family hails from Sylhet, Bangladesh, but after growing up in Roswell, GA, he now lives in Brooklyn with his cat, Butter. Outside of PS, he also has bylines in Teen Vogue, Vogue, Vogue India, New York Magazine, Them, The Nation, and more.
