Radiate light this Deepawali

Bharat is the land of festivals. Our calendar is dotted with celebrations all through the year.

- PRIYA S. TANDON

Deepawali literally means, a row of lights. Deepawali is perhaps the most awaited, favourite festival of children. They get to eat goodies, meet friends and family, decorate the house with rangolis, diyas, candles and lights, dress up in traditional Indian clothes, enjoy the Deep-mala and above all... get holidays from school! What fun!

I sometimes think of the greatness of Bhagwan Rama, the impact of His life story ... He was born in the Treta yuga; after that came the Dvapara Yug and now it seems the Kaliyuga is coming to an end, but the life story of Bhagwan Rama is talked about and remembered even today. Like they say, “Kuch to baat hogi un

mein, ki baat baat mein unki baat hoti hai!”

Even in present times, Ramilila is enacted all over the country, in every little village too! My mother used to tell us that Goddess Lakshmi visits our homes on the night before Diwali but she comes only to those homes that are neat and clean; spic and span. So she would ask us to clean up every nook and cranny of the house before Diwali. I now understand that it was her way of getting us to clean our cupboards, toys, etc. In the process of cleaning, we would discard things that were no longer usable and even give away stuff that we had outgrown. The lofts would get cleaned and all moisture, termites, roaches etc. would be swept out. I still do Diwali cleaning, the only difference is that now I am on the other side of the fence and I give the same bait to my children and grandchildren! I start quite a few days in advance. Every cupboard, be it full of clothes, linen, crockery, books etc. everything is taken out, cleaned, dusted and put back.

The Deepawali festival spans over five days. The festivities begin with Dhanteras. On this day