Diwali this time saddened me...

I have been having a thought for a while now with which I feel pained. It started day before morning at about 9:00am when I saw a few kids bursting bombs (crackers!). I was travelling in a bus later that evening when I saw fire crackers in the sky. And I wondered:

I was back to the days when I heard the reason for the celebration for this festival of lights. It was the celebration of victory. With lamps being lit all over and with sweets cooked in all homes, it was very righteous. Where are we today, when we ourselves don’t like pollution, when we talk about carbon foot-print, when we talk about saving ourselves from extinction (I DO NOT believe that the planet we habitat is at stake; I DO believe that it is our human population that is at stake with the modern industrialization and urbanization), when we talk about inflation and recession, when we talk about the child labour that goes into the manufacturing of those harmful things, we still love the noise, the smoke, and the effects it later has on the environment, our health and human psychology. Phew!!

It was yesterday, I had a family get-together dinner party at my granny’s place. Lots of cousins, relatives and friends. Most of them said: they hate the noise, the pollution, etc... but then some of them only told: come, let’s go burst crackers. I wonder: now-a-days, crackers is not only a part of Diwali, but a part of every victory, every celebration. Do we feel responsible at our act of not only disturbing others, but even at our own consciousness? Are we really aware of the accountability we have towards our own surroundings and neighbourhood? (I mean-a rocket cracker just flew inches away from my shoulder from behind me when I was walking down the street!)

Amidst the celebration and lights and colour and frolic, there was a bigger reason that was taking me away, that was putting off my smile, that was saddening me...

I again wondered: Does one ever feel that once moral values are valued, things would change? And if one feels it, what are they doing about it??

Now, I got an answer from a close one: “Don’t wonder so much. The world is what it is because of what constitutes it. And all kinds me elements go into making it.... At times just leave the master to weave his ways and you just marvel at the part u have to play. :-)”

I would still leave you with a thought: "The choice is always going to be between what is easy and what is right."

Keep Smiling..!! :-)