Happy Diwali

3rd November 2021 Dr Beena

Hello everyone. Jen requested my thoughts on Deepavali/Diwali. Hence, I had to paint something. I painted this little turquoise blue glass lamp with a glowing flame on khadi paper. I wrote about this paper some time ago.

 Now we know Diwali is a festival celebrated by Indians everywhere. I just learnt that Newar Buddhists celebrate Diwali too. Diwali is a festival of lights and about good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. I find that we need this universal festival at a time of great darkness and chaos in this world where ignorance and untruths seem to rule the day.

 However, Jen was more interested in how my family celebrated this festival. My mom would make special snacks and, my father would buy sweet snacks like laddoo and Mysore Pak. Nevertheless, my mom still made the banana halva (a challenging dish). We would wake up early in the morning and have oil baths. Yes, it is like an oil massage. Then we wore new clothes and went to the temple. I liked visiting my father’s friends as they would serve those delicious laddoos๐Ÿ˜Š. Our Indian neighbours would drop in and give us some of their special snacks. It was such a feast๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š. In the evening, my parents would let us play with those fireworks that looked like sparkling dandelions.

 That is what I used to think about Diwali when I was young. However, I understand the concept of Diwali better now. It is a meaningful festival.  Most festivals are celebrated with lights and not in darkness. But here, the meaning of light means an awakening of thoughts about right over wrong. It is about embracing truth over lies. In this present time, when we are overwhelmed with fake news, it is refreshing to reflect on what is real. Hence, it is not about a festival but for us to awaken ourselves in our daily living. We can all do better in numerous ways to keep our Earth from destruction. Each of us has that light that shines๐Ÿ˜Š.

 With that thought, I wish everyone a Happy Diwali๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š. My thoughts about Diwali are my personal views. I am pretty sure there are more views but, I am unaware of them. I hope some of our readers share their thoughts๐Ÿ˜Š.

10 thoughts on “Happy Diwali

  1. Thank you Beena for acceding to my request. Your vivid description of how your family celebrated the Festival of Lights was heart-warming. I can picture how your family joyfully spent time together with relatives and friends. Thank you gor sharing what the Festival is all about. I enjoy reading your post very much. Thanks again.

    1. Hi, Jen, am glad to accept your request. Sometimes am not sure if the topic would interest anyone:). But writing on various topics helps me to learn new stuff too.

  2. May the light of Deepavali/ Diwali shine through all challenging times. Itโ€™s cool that you picked dark blue as it can connote Lord Krishna whose story links to Deepavali

    โ€œWhenever virtue subsides and wickedness prevails, I manifest Myself. To establish virtue, to destroy evil, to save the good I come from Yuga (age) to Yuga.โ€ Verses from The Bhagavad Gita

    1. Hi Prakash

      Oddly, you should comment on the colour blue. When I finished painting, I kept asking myself why am I selecting blue. Hahaha, I know the answer. I hope you will find time to read the other stories too:)

  3. Brilliant mixing of dark and light shades . Turquoise adds to the beauty. Vibrancy of a live flame is what Diwali or Deepavali is all about . Your descriptive words about the ladoos and colour and pageantry is evoking a nostalgic twinge about the festival..โ˜บ๏ธโ˜บ๏ธ

    1. Hi, Ramesh glad to have brought those nostalgic moments with my little story. The meaning has changed as we age but the essence of joy and the excitement remains palpable. May that light of youth continue to shine our lives:).

  4. Thank you for this well written piece. We need all the enlightenment in these dark present times. May the light of truth, compassion and justice shine on us and imbue humanity to make this world a better place.

  5. A beautiful painting and an even better Deepavali tale. Reading your recent discovery of Newari Buddhists celebrating Deepavali, It reminded me of the time I visited Nepal over the holiday period. I remember landing on the eve of Deepavali and the entire Kathmandu valley was shimmering with millions of colourful lights and exploding in a riot of colour from all the fireworks.

    Much to my delight, it is the second most important festival in Nepal and one of the few times the locals get a proper break ( to my horror I discovered Nepalis work a 6-day week, again newfound respect for the many hardworking Nepalis in Malaysia). It is called Tihar, and it is a 5-day festival and every day venerates a specific animal, mainly because it is associated with a manifestation of god or deity.

    Now Nepal, as a country is already rich in culture and tradition, but now imagine my absolute delight seeing dogs everywhere stray or kept, running around happily with garlands of flowers and a tilak to their foreheads. And the following day I found many cows equally impressively dressed up.

    Well, this is just my contribution to tales of Deepavali this year. May the light continue to dispel the darkness in our lives.

    1. Hi, Leong thanks for sharing your experience in Nepal. Have always thought there is so much that we enrich ourselves when we are exposed to other cultures. Nevertheless, it is now that I find the true meaning of Light as the world has grown so dark in the past few years. The darkness is permeating very quickly across the globe. Nevertheless, am hopeful the truth and wisdom will eventually prevail for the sustenance of life on earth. Hope you will continue to share your thoughts and experiences here.

      Take care

  6. A beautiful painting and even better Deepavali tale. On reading your recent discovery of Newari Buddhist celebrating Deepavali,Iit reminded me of the time I visited Nepal over the holiday period. I Remember landing on the eve of Deepavali and entire Kathmandu valley was shimmering with millions of colourful lights and exploding in a riot of colour from all the firesworks.

    Much to my delight it is the second most important festival in Nepal, and one of the few times the locals get a proper break ( to my horror i discovered Nepalis work a 6 day word, again new found respect for the many hardworking Nepalis in Malaysia). It is called TIhar, and it is a 5 day festival and every day venerates a specific animal, mainly because it is associated with a manifestation of god or diety.

    Now Nepal, as a country is already rich in culture and tradition, but now imagine my absolute delight seeing dogs everywhere stray or kept, running around happily with garlands of flowers and a tilak to their foreheads. And the following day I found many cows equally impressively dressed up.

    Well this is just my contribution for tales of Deepavali this year. May the light continue to dispel the darkness in our lives.

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