He had also planned on renovating their house in time for the festival. But on the morning of April 1, those plans literally went up in smoke when a gas pipeline fire erupted in their Putra Heights neighbourhood.

Recalling the incident, Puspagaran, told FMT Lifestyle: “My wife, sons and I were sleeping in the same room as, the night before, we had watched a movie together before falling asleep.”

Early the next morning, they were jolted awake by a deafening noise. “It felt like an earthquake and the house was shaking,” added the 45-year-old, who works at a bank.

He remembers seeing the roof cracking and tiles crashing to the bedroom floor. The four rushed downstairs, frantically searching for the front door key, only to realise it was still in the bedroom they had just left.

They dashed through the kitchen and escaped out the back instead, their hearts heavy as they had to leave their dog, Elon, who was trapped at the front of the house.

Barefoot and with only the clothes on their backs, they ran for their lives. Around them, their neighbourhood had descended into chaos.

His wife, Geetha Velmunigan, 44, recalled: “People were screaming and crying.”

“We also saw cars burning and melting,” Puspagaran said.

With several other residents, they raced to the edge of the neighbourhood and escaped through a tunnel. On the other side, they climbed a small slope and eventually reached a highway.

There, they flagged down a passing car, and the driver took them to Geetha’s parents’ house.

Puspagaran estimates that it took about 30 minutes from the time they fled their home to when they finally stopped the car. Yet, to them, it felt like so much longer.

Geetha and their younger son, Theeshanthan, suffered burns. Their older son, Sidhaartan, had fallen during their escape, bruising his knee and ankle. Puspagaran found that the skin on the soles of his feet had peeled off due to the searing heat of the road.

Later that day, Puspagaran and his brother-in-law returned to find that, thankfully, Elon had survived. He, too, bore burn marks.

Yet, the ordeal was not over. Puspagaran recalls the devastating sight that greeted him when he returned to the neighbourhood a few days later.

“It looked like a haunted place, like a war had just ended. Everything had become brown and the greenery was all gone. The damage was very bad,” he said.

The house he had worked so hard to buy was declared a total loss. He estimates the distance of his house to the site of the gas pipeline was 120-150m.

It had been their home for 15 years, a place where they had created countless memories. “Everything was gone in just a day.”

After staying with Geetha’s parents for several weeks, the family eventually rented a house in USJ 11, Subang Jaya, where they still live. Their house in Putra Heights, Puspagaran said, is still being repaired.

“All we want is to return to our own house. This place may be where we’re staying now, but it’s not our home,” he added.

Deepavali is now a quieter affair for the family. They will visit their parents and, later in the week, host a small gathering for family members at their rented home.

It’s a far cry from the celebration they imagined, but gratitude still fills their hearts for having survived.

Deepavali has always been about spending time with loved ones; so, although the blaze destroyed their home, it hasn’t dimmed what the festival means to them.

“Yes, we were injured, traumatised, worried and scared, but we are together,” Puspagaran concluded.