The Blissful Spirit Of Diwali

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It is yet another beautiful Thursday evening, the 6th November 2021. The sun has set, darkness has started to envelope the whole atmosphere all around, and behold- a group of young children running around noisily from their buildings, with firecrackers and rockets as they celebrate the heartfelt and blissful spirit characterizing the beloved festival of Diwaliiiii......

With families gathered across the footpath, and a gathering with an enormous amount of young children, excited as they are, with joyful and blissful spirits that brings them together on this occasion, Diwali is yet another festival celebrated by the Hindu community all across the globe- which marks according to local traditions- 'the triumph of good over evil' or as many say 'the light over darkness'. The festival is marked with the lighting of diyas or lamps in each house, which is also accompanied by a rangoli, and also a puja to mark the first day of this festive occasion. A lot of families joined along with their relatives and near and dear ones are united as they celebrate this festival, with many sweet shops crowded the previous day, as families keep stock of savories or 'meethai' as they would say it in Hindi to distribute to their friends as well as visitors or guests who may come over for a visit to their houses, further adding to enhance the spirit that characterizes this very festival.

What I personally like and appreciate about this festival, is that on this occasion, there is a lot of noise that fills the streets, with sounds of fireworks and crackers to be heard in neighbourhoods not far off. People whom we would generally or categorically refer to as belonging to different states of the multilingual or multi-diverse country of India (our motherland as we would generally refer to it as) come together and be a witness to this great occasion. In short, it brings people together, it unites communities with total distinctiveness or dissimilarity and moreover there is a feeling or a sense of humanity in that moment, as people joyously celebrate the occasion that binds them together.

Such is the spirit that broadly characterizes the festival of Diwali, so much so that I am always looking forward to it , and what made the festival special this time was that even at a time when we are almost heading towards the recovery phase in light of the Covid-19, there is still life to be seen, there are still the cheerful and joyous faces of people and more importantly, the festivals are a true witness to the fact that 'humanity still exists'.

I am still spellbound as I recollect about this occasion which concluded just a few days back and as I now spend my life in my country- the UAE, the joy and the past memories that I have had with this country are slowly reviving back as I start yet another great new chapter of my life with new experiences in the time to come soon....

PS: Below is a photo along with videos of crackers being lit up on this festive occasion!








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