HAPPY DIWALI

It feels great to have decorated the house.

It feels great to have attended to a respectable number of guests at home.

It feels great to have treated the younger siblings at McDs and Dominos because this miser feels generous today.

It feels great to have pampered Pa like a child because his mood was off in the morning.

It feels great to have dressed up nicely today, wearing a suit I bought 2 years back, and got stitched a year back, and finally wearing it for the first time today. (Ofcourse, the fitting wasn't that great though)

It feels great to have a serious puja session in the evening, because the music was good.

But what I have felt best about are the facts that a muslim senior wished me, in office, and through an SMS and, that a christian auntie from the neighbourhood bakes a cake for us every Diwali.
I am not very fond of the fact that we have so many religions in our country, because this fact only contributes to more filth in the name of politics, and nothing more. We as Indians live more as humans than as a Hindu or a muslim or a christian in our day to day lives. Practicing our respective religion has become more of a personal issue than a cultural issue. But anyway, it felt great to have shared our celebrations with people who don't call themselves Hindus.

Festivals are one reason I majorly love my country for(no, not for the morals and all anymore). Not only because the country has given me the number and frequency of holidays in 1 year, no other country can, but also because no matter what religion or state or culture one belongs to, everyone has a right to celebrate so many festivals, just so many of them.

This brightness, these colors, this happiness, this spreaded light of little wicks across the horizon seems like such a heaven, no matter whatever the reason be, return of Ram - the king, Ram - the God, Ram - the perfect, or Ram - just another character in a story called Ramayan with his wife and brother, whether it's all for real, part of our very own history, or just a sacred story, whatever be the reason and it's source, i'm glad we have another day to celebrate in our lives, every year, another reason to smile, see everyone around us smile, and make genuine efforts to make others smile and all this, coming year after year after year, for generations.