My perfect Diwali

Time for gratitude

Rehmat Bhatia, Class IX, Bhavan Vidyalaya Panchkula

The sound of laughter ringing in everyone’s ears, fireworks whooshing by, lamps adorning the pathways to homes- sounds familiar?

Yes! Diwali is here to brighten everyone’s autumn. But what are we actually celebrating???

The lessons learnt in the past two years seem to have gone out of the window and we are back to the artificial pomp and show that ruled our lives pre-Covid. It has become again just about clothes, sweets, gifts and parties. Little do we remember what life with Corona taught us — celebrating with the minimum and still being grateful…

Being grateful for the air in our lungs, the food in our stomach and the roof over our head…

Although Diwali is a special time of the year for people of all faiths and backgrounds, but do we justify the celebration of this joyous occasion?

This year, before you go to buy crackers and do mindless spending, here’s a visual for you. Scared dogs on the streets, the barefoot children on the sidewalks, scantily clad elders begging for the bare minimum. Shouldn’t this time be special for them too?

Diwali is sometimes referred to as the “festival of lights”. This year, let’s look beyond the confines of our own homes. Not to compare whether our lights are brighter, but bring light to the lives of those constantly in the dark. Only then can true ‘Ramrajya’ prevail.

‘Ramrajya’ — The depiction of a perfect world. The Perfect Diwali can exist only in that perfect world where people can differentiate between needs and wants, where desires don’t blur the lines between right and wrong, where leaders don’t become dictators, where smiles are about happiness in the heart -not money in the walletwhere love and light is meant for all….

What better way to celebrate Diwali that than by sharing with the underprivileged, spending time with family and friends, and lighting lamps that send across prayers of hope.

Diwali strengthens relationships with family and friends, promotes prosperity & well-being, encourages humility and expression of gratitude, fraternity, knowledge and illumination. It’s a day set aside to commemorate gratitude forwhat we have and free ourselves of the greed of always wanting more.

Gratitude — let it be not just a word but a feeling that dictates all that you do this Diwali. Let it reflect in all our thoughts and actions from this day forward. Let’s make it a habit….a lifestyle!

My perfect Diwali is one that dignifies old traditions, the traditions of giving, one that reignites the lamps that signify our culture and values, the values of 'taking care' — taking care of our mother earth and the emotions of the beings inhabiting it. It’s a Diwali where everyone shares their Blessings…because when we think about it, we do have a LOT…..

Stay away from crackers

Shivali Sethi, Class X, AshianaPublic School, Chandigarh

The beauty of the Indian culture is its festivals and celebrations. Festivals in India don’t reflect religion, they reflect brotherhood and diversity. Festivals teach us to rise above our differences with new aspirations and hopes. If we talk about Indian festivals and celebrations, without mentioning Diwali it would be unjust and iniquitous.

Deepavali is celebrated over a period of 5 days. It is observed on the 15th day of the month of Kartika and in accordance with the Hindu lunar calendar, this month is considered the holiest.

For me each time, what I look for in a proper Diwali celebration was knowing more about our rich culture and traditions. The thing I love the most is that in our culture everything is very well planned, nothing is randomly significant. Diwali marks the harvesting season and arrival of winter.

In the Indian epic Ramayana, Diwali is celebrated when Lord Rama returned from 14 years of exile to Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Laxman. This festival symbolizes the victory over darkness and evil.

Usually, my idea of Diwali is all the family members indulging in sweets, traditional food, having fun together and are happy. Then we have the special Diwali Pujan in the evening. The decoration of houses, making rangolis, arranging the lights on Diwali, is an absolute delight for me every year. In addition to all the fun, gambling and firecrackers surrounding the celebration of Diwali, it is an inherently philosophical festival.

The only thing I don’t like about Diwali is burning firecrackers as it causes air and noise pollution causing chaos. It is high time that we realise that it is damaging our environment seriously. It is also extremely harmful for animals and for humans as well.

This is the only thing we need to change and just need to go back in time a bit and revive our old and golden traditions.

So, this Diwali lets us pray to God for guidance and patience during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Light up lives of those battling adversity

Sukhmanjit Kaur, Class- X, Hubble Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Kalewal

Festivals are meant to rejoice and celebrate special moments and emotions in our lives with our loved ones. One such festival is Diwali.It is probably one of the brightest festivals in the world.

People of different religions celebrate this festival that signifies the victory of light over darkness. This also means the triumph of good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

There are many associations with this festival. It certainly brings spiritual calmness and peace to the people.

As per my perception, Diwali is not only a religious festival but it is a festival full of new hopes and expectations. Man prays to Goddess Lakshmi for prosperity and wealth, but rather than getting selfish he needs to think from others perspective.

According to me , this year a perfect Diwali can be celebrated by praying for the families struck by deadly Corona virus and natural disasters. We have to pay tributes to those who sacrificed their lives while serving the humanity during this pandemic and salute to those who worked as front warriors such as doctors, nurses, teachers,policemen etc.

Rather than exchanging gifts among our relatives and friends ,we need to help needy people by visiting their homes. So that, they can celebrate this festive season with fun and frolic .

Every day, we come across news regarding farmers protesting for their rights, soldiers sacrificing their lives for the sake of their nation. All these issues need to be sorted out to celebrate this festival merrily.

As we all know well that, all the nations have joined hands to fight against Covid and are cooperating to reduce this adversity. Thus , we can also establish cordial relations, rather than fight on the borders.

We are living in the 21st century, but still women are not getting their status in the society as compared to men.

This is crystal clear from the daily issues which are in limelight in Afghanistan by fatwas issued by the Taliban.

A perfect Diwali doesn't mean to celebrate it with crackers and electric lightning only. According to me, we can brighten the lives of those people whose hardwork is visible in their wonderful earthen diyas . I think cleaningour homes before Diwali is not at all sufficient. I dream for a Diwali ,in which our mother earth is free from pollution and its natural beauty like green trees and wonderful flowers brightens our mind and lures our heart.Diwali in real sense can be celebrated if we are free from evils of the society like corruption, communalism , casteism, Covid-19 , Dengue etc. I think to make this day more memorable, we should take pledge to eradicate all the ill traits of the society.

'Let's fill our homes with prayers and lights not with fumes and crackers.'

Make it the festival of giving more and taking less

Jiya Tathgur, VIII, Manav Mangal Smart School, Mohali

A perfect Diwali — who doesn’t want that? Getting to buy the best fire-crackers before the stock runs out, getting to eat sweets and chocolates, having the best outfit, and of course, the thing that I most want but can only achieve in my wildest dreams — not helping my mother with Diwali cleaning.

I bet all these would make a perfect Diwali for you. It’s a little different for me though. The lockdown changed my perspective so much that I have a different idea of a perfect Diwali now. Did you notice that the air is much cleaner, and you can clearly see buildings till far off? It all happened because human beings stopped interfering with nature's course.

The noise level reduced by 68% all over the world, the industrial waste in water bodies reduced by 500%, the concentration of carbon monoxide, nitrogen monoxide, and sulphur dioxide reduced by 30%, 52%, and 17% respectively and there was a reduction of up to 85% in PM 2.5 concentration.

This all happened because we gave mother earth a chance to revive herself, and I have to say, she did it pretty quick. All the damage that human beings have caused for centuries became a lot better in just a year because we left the work up to nature. What if we had taken care of mother earth from the beginning? Given more and taken less? Then this planet would have been a beautiful place to live by now. The coming generations would have learned, enjoyed, and played in the lap of nature. But it’s not too late to do that. Just a little step towards a green earth goes a long way. So, I request you to celebrate a green Diwali this year. Wrap presents in recyclable paper, reuse any plastic bags or gift-wrapping paper, do not burn fire crackers, plant a tree, and most importantly, enjoy this festival with your family and friends in a different way this year.

These tips are not just for this festival, but every festival you celebrate. If we all join hands and celebrate festivals in an environmentally friendly way, then the future generations would be able to enjoy the beauty of nature as you did.

Feed the poor and needy

Garima Dhiman, Class VIII, D.C. Model School, Panchkula

It is said that 'The greatness of a culture can be found in its festivals'. These are celebrated to bring joy in the lives of people. Festivals not only bring good times but also bring the people of all castes and creed together.

Of all the festivals, it is Diwali which not only lights up our houses but also enlightens our lives in many ways.

Diwali is a festival that takes away all the sorrows, negativity from our lives and fills it with the wonderful colours of happiness, prosperity, and brotherhood.

It is a festival that signifies the triumph of good over evil, of truth over falsehood and of light over darkness. Rich or poor everyone enjoys and celebrates it to the best of their capacity and capability. Diwali gives us a chance to forget the ill-will and reconnect with the relatives and friends .This is not just about sharing gifts, it is also about sharing happiness and happy moments together to recreate the new ones.

But there is an ugly picture also which is hidden under the layers of the customs of this beautiful festival of Diwali. If I am asked about definition of my kind of Diwali , I would like to motivate people to buy earthen diyas in place of fancy lights so that the poor people who spent days and days making them earn some money. There is a tradition of bursting crackers on Diwali. We should try to be responsible citizens and must initiate a drive against global warming. It must be just for the sake of rituals not for a show off wealth and prosperity.

We should aim to celebrate Diwali in an eco-friendly way and respect nature. Some of the crackers are so loud that human ear can get damaged. These can cause to high blood pressure, hearing problems as well noise pollution. To prevent such things we must avoid firecrackers and opt for a green and safe Diwali.

How beautiful and rewarding it will be if we arrange food for the poor and distribute sweets in the slums instead of spending money on crackers.

This is the time we must remove the darkness from our hearts, soul and mind and lit diyas of love, happiness, success and prosperity in every single corner of the world. Let’s celebrate this Diwali by embracing brotherhood and spreading positivity all around.