For those of you who are Indian Nationals, please excuse the following simplified version of the Festival of Lights; Diwali. Feel free to skip the next paragraph and go straight to the fourth, I won’t take it personally. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about when I say “Diwali” below is a little bit of background information explaining the festival and reasons behind it.
The Festival of Lights: Diwali
Diwali is a holiday celebrated all over India by both Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. For the most part, all Diwali festivals have something to do with good triumphing over evil. According to National Geographic, different regions of India celebrate Diwali for different reasons. “In northern India, the story of King Rama’s return to Ayodhya after he defeated Ravana by lighting rows of clay lamps is the reason for the festivities. People in southern India celebrate it as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. In western India the festival marks the day that Lord Vishnu, the Preserver (one of the main gods of the Hindu trinity) sent the demon King Bali to rule the nether world” (National Geographic).
My Diwali
A while back, when I was traveling in Jaipur, I met a woman and her sister from Delhi who had traveled to Jaipur for the long weekend. We hit it off instantly. They invited me to stay with them whenever I found myself in Delhi. Luckily enough, a couple of days later I was back in Delhi because I had a flight to Nepal the next morning( check out this blog post).
The day before Diwali, I took a quick two and a half hour flight from Chennai to New Delhi. I spent a total of 5 days with my friend Sangeeta and her family. It was great; home-cooked meals, a warm home to sleep in and lots of opportunities to participate in the different rituals and traditions of Diwali.
For me, Diwali was like a mixture of Halloween and Christmas. Families spent the day together baking, cleaning and making rangolis, designs on the floor made of colorful sands. Then in the evening, they took gifts to their neighbors and exchanged love and respect. The atmosphere of the entire day was joyful and loving. People were happy, taking pictures and being with each other. I am very thankful that I got to experience Diwali in such a wonderful way.
