One of the most awaited festival seasons is here: Diwali, New year and Christmas.
It is surely one of the best things to remember: the highly gleaming diyas, the colorful Rangolis, the best of crackers, most delicious of sweets and shining gifts being exchanges, the prayers with utmost attention and devotion and yes, of course, the great feasts.
Just like every new year offers a new beginning for every soul on Earth, Diwali offers a new enlightenment.
India is a diverse land, full of languages, colors, festivals, customs and every resident, irrespective of the man-made divisions, wait eagerly for every festival ahead.
Diwali, a festival spanning over five days, from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj, attracts much of the excitement in the Indian subcontinent.
With overloading wishes and cheerful faces everywhere, Diwali gets celebrated with a spirit of togetherness with no limitations imposed on the hearts of millions who wait for this festival entire year.
It is said to be the festival of lights, happiness and prosperity wherein Goddess Lakshmi is believed to enter the house at night, from the main door. She showers her blessings in abundance and prayers are done at auspicious timings to request the same.
How is this Diwali different to every Indian?
Every soul residing in this country and the planet has faced a lot during the recent Pandemic where one has to stay inside the locked doors, maybe separate from the entire family.
This year and the last, we may have lost many of our family members. Even with utmost precautions, many of our loved ones parted their ways from us, unintentionally.
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Though we still remember them in our prayers and memories, it remains important for a human to move forward, leaving behind the perils of our past into a difficult yet joyous present and hopeful future.
Diwali reminds us that evil cannot persist for long and the truth always triumphs. Though it may take a while, maybe years, a righteous human survives against all odds.
We may be battered and devastated from the impacts of pandemic, may be terrified of the happening around us due to climate change, the floods in the hills and valleys, the incessant rains etc. this is all temporary.
Its lessons can however, be made eternal. We need to endure, innovate and help each other to stand up again, even in the worst of times.
The climate Conference, recently being held in Glasgow, is another attempt at saving humanity and Earth by equitable distribution and use of resources.
Diwali (like any other festival, if looked in depth) calls for sharing of happiness and prosperity. The respected Goddess doesn’t differentiate, she visits every house to shower her blessings that yearns for it.
So can we. Diwali calls for greater sense of brotherhood and charity.
Lights in Diwali are not just mere lights. These lights are the ones of knowledge, awareness, to try and find new solutions to humankind’s and planet’s older problems.
We can help spread happiness in every corner of the world though minor attempts: give preference to hand-made articles composed of locally procured materials, the biodegradable yet so alluring diyas which brighten our minds along with illuminating our homes.
When we buy the customary decorative articles like diyas, those paper lanterns, those beautiful frills and sugar candies instead of cheap yet denigrating electrical lights, it gives a boost to local manufacturers who are basically, the daily wage earners who leave everything behind to sustain during festival season.
For the best of joys come from helping others.
We can help the Mother Nature by not bursting the most-polluting crackers, we can rather opt for the green crackers promoted by our very own Institutions.
It is ethically right of us to attempt to fill our hearts with purity and wisdom, for these characteristics will help us identify the actual, hidden evils of the world and help eliminate them.