Diwali

Since i was a kid Diwali & Christmas have been my favourite time of the year.......the time since ramlila began till the five days of diwali , used to be my most awaited time of the year.....even more awaited than my birthday!!....even today (and more so now that, i live away from home...and look forward to joining my family for diwali vacations) and i think it will remains so forever..... & now that i think about it  the reason for this feeling of absolute delight that fills me every year is not 'cuz it's a holiday season..or not 'cuz of the expectations of new clothes,gifts & sweets...or presently, of being able to get away from work to go home, meet family and friends. Yes all these add to the cheer.....but I believe even if these were not there I would still feel the same joy at this time...it's because it's not these material things about Diwali that have made me so happy all along......but it's this feeling that I have felt..............to me it is a time of the year when every person ,be it a child or an adult or be it rich or poor, a person who is happy or sad, anxious or distraught....in what ever state of mind......every person, maybe even for just a few moments, feels joy filling there hearts & lives....they feel a delight and enjoy it without giving a damn to anything else.
According to hindu religion...this festival has a divine symbolism......but to me this festival is divine not 'cuz of the mythological beliefs associated with it but 'cuz of this simple reason.......that this is a festival that brings happiness and cheer into our lives and all around us.....because it is the time of the year when we go about sharing...sharing our joy, our happiness,our achievements, our lives with family,with friends...sometimes even with strangers.....sharing trebles the joy....adds on to our own and of others....and brings to those who for some reason may not have it......it is this sharing that gives this festival all it's cheer and pomp more than anything else.
over the past few years I have heard people say and felt it too that commercialisation as overtaken the spirit of Diwali.......but I still believe, just as I beleived years ago, when I wrote an assay on "Diwali the festival of lights"....that Diwali is a festival of lights...not the lights of the earthen lamp or the bulb strings......but of the enlightened lives & enlightened souls of people who are experiencing the most basic emotion of being human.....the joy of sharing.....it is just this feeling that we need to remind ourselves and rekindle the beautiful delight that this festival brings to our lives and those around us.

wishing u all a very happy,prosperous,safe and clean Diwali.
njoy!!!