Diwali - A festival of Light, not of consumption.

(For those who don't know, the tradition is such that Diwali - the biggest festival in India - is the celebration of victory of Lord Rama over demon-king Ravana, the former being the personification of Righteousness and Light and the latter of Evil and Darkness in an ancient epic named Ramayana composed by a sage named Valmiki.)

It had been seven days since the war had shrouded the land of Lanka.

Both sides were fighting vigilantly, each refusing to surrender. None of Rama's tactics were working to bring the downfall of the king of golden city - Ravana, who seemed to have a defense against everything that Rama could throw at him.

There came a moment when Rama's arrow slices through Ravana's neck thus decapitating him, but it was only a moment before a new head sprang into life, which was a testament to the strength that the demon-king possessed.

There was only one option left now. Rama would use the one weapon that had the power to do in one shot that the past seven days could not do.

Rama will fire Brahmastra: The weapon of the Supreme which was given to him by a prominent sage.

"All the beings were frightened, and the earth trembled," writes Valmiki as Lord Rama sets his body in a proper posture, aims the divine, relentless arrow at mighty Ravana, pulls the string until it reaches the anchor point, and finally releases it. The arrow leaves the bow and whizzes into lightning speed as it travels in a perfect arc and Thump! The arrow pierces through its target's chest and finds a total halt in his heart.

That was it.

The stronghold of evil was broken as the towering form of Ravana collapses to the ground, dead.

Righteousness reigned.

(7,000 YEARS LATER)

"I'm pretty sure," echoed a corpulent someone on a TV show about the stock market, "that with the prospect of rise in sales during the Diwali holidays, these companies are going to make a killing and my humble advice to my listeners is to keep this in mind while buying stocks today."

"Family is everything and Diwali makes it even more so. Come and spend a delicious evening with your family at our restaurant on this auspicious day," read one poster on the bus stand.

"Bedeck your home like a newlywed this Diwali season with our best-in-the-world furniture."

"Diwali means a new beginning and there is no better way to welcome it than giving yourself a gift of new look. Visit our clothing store today."

"MAY YOUR LIFE BE FILLED WITH LIGHT" read a huge glittering signboard at the entrance of a shopping mall which was potently attracting the people with its discounts and blockbuster deals like a magnet attracts the iron nails. Life filled with Light? Not sure. But the shopping carts were already full.

Businesses had spent the past few weeks readying themselves for the upcoming Diwali season which is finally here. The sellers are ready to sell. The buyers are readier to buy. It's Diwali today.

KABOOMMMM! FIZZZZZ!

SWOOSHHHHH! THWIFFFFFF!

(distant explosions of firecrackers)

Oṁ asato mā sadgamaya
tamasomā jyotir gamaya.....

Om,
Lead me from the unreal to the real,
Lead me from darkness to light....

A child is holding a copy of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and reading a hymn in his mind.

Lead me from darkness to light.

Lost in a deep thought, as if looking at two opposing themes. Flummoxed. He knows that Diwali is a festival of Light. But he also knows that the atmosphere on these days feels more like a festival of market.

He can't stay troubled on this matter. He has to ask somebody. He saw his father getting ready to leave for somewhere.

"Dad, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes son, my office."

And pre-empting his son's question, he says, "I'm not wearing the office dress because we have a Diwali party in the office today."

Child realized that the moment was ripe to flood the room with his questions and he didn't hold himself back.

"Dad, why do we celebrate Diwali?"

"Because it's a festival of light. Victory of light over darkness. One must always side with light, therefore, one must always celebrate this auspicious festival," said the father in a confident tone.

"Oh, I see. Then there must be some important connection between siding with light and having office parties, isn't it?"

The father stands stunned, saying nothing.

"What mystery lies behind the crowds huddling the market in the name of a festival which is all about burning the lamp of light within?"

The child unleashes the spree of questions flowing out of the fountainhead of observation and curiosity.

"What subtle thread joins Lord Rama with firecrackers? What mathematical formula proves that the left hand side equation of Lord Rama strategically planning his way up from a forest to attacking the mightiest empire of evil at that time is equal to the right hand side equation of a car company advertising about its new model and saying, 'Light up your Diwali'? How does....."

The father stops him mid-sentence and says agitated, "So you want that we should not celebrate Diwali?"

"I didn't say that. Celebrate we must. But I'm asking is this the right way to celebrate the festival whose essence lies in dispelling the darkness in the unvisited neck and crannies of your mind?"

Silence.

"It's a shame that we let the sellers turn a brave warrior like Rama into their sales agent who knocks at every door and says, 'Hi, I'm Rama, remember that I won that war against demon-king Ravana? Will you buy this gadget greatly discounted this Diwali?' And it's much more shameful that we let ourselves turn a great philosophy into a mere partying night."

"What you are saying is......."

"I'm not finished, father."

The father seemed irritated but somehow remained silent.

"It's not just Diwali. It's the same with every festival we celebrate around the globe. Every festival has a subtle purpose behind it - to remind ourselves of the things we usually are unaware of in our daily lives. Just like repeated cleaning is needed to maintain cleanliness, we are given these festivals so that they repeatedly remind us of the principles of life which we can use to wipe out the germs of evil in our very personal life."

"Whatever you are saying is right," said the father hurriedly, "but for now I have to leave. I'm getting late for party."

The father walks briskly out of the room. If someone unaware of the conversation between father and son had looked at the way he got out of the room, he would have thought there's something threatening in the room.

The child smiles and continues his reading.

...mrityormāamritam gamaya
Oṁ śhānti śhānti śhāntiḥ

...Lead me from death to immortality.
May peace be, may peace be, may peace be.