In a few days, India will be celebrating the festival of lights, Diwali, with as much grandeur as possible. Diwali is celebrated 20 days after the auspicious festival of Dussehra. A festival celebrated as a remark of victory of good over evil. Diwali is a continued celebration of this victory
But when I look around me, I cannot figure out what we are celebrating. We are witnessing genocides and starvation of fellow humans at the same time as we are decorating our homes for Diwali. Has the evil been defeated? Look at the condition of Gaza and think again. Do we have anything to celebrate?
In India, Diwali is often celebrated with loud firecrackers. Something every child in Gaza must be scared of today. Any loud noise startles them after witnessing the bombardments of their homes.
Has the evil won? It certainly seems so. Which means humanity has been defeated. Which means we have no reason to celebrate Diwali. What alarms me the most is how indifferent we have become to fellow humans’ pain and suffering. We don’t mind celebrating even after knowing that somewhere, thousands of people are being killed.
People of Palestine are lost in darkness as we light diyas to light up the path of Ram (good). If only every Diya we light could bring hope to the people of Gaza. If only every candle we light can weaken Israel’s army. If only every firecracker we burn acts as an ammunition against Israel’s bombardments.
If it cannot, I don’t see any reason to light diyas, candles and burn crackers. All I witness is the after-smoke choking us, symbolizing our defeat. The defeat of humanity. The defeat of good. And that is no reason to celebrate at all.
The good in all of us is somewhere lost in the darkness. Let us light diyas this Diwali, hoping that it can find its way back to us.