Diwali - 1

India is a land of festivals and celebrations. Festivals are nothing but expression of one's own gratitude, joy, appreciation and love, they are the best ways of bringing the society together to take time off and celebrate in unison. It is a way of celebrating nature and its wonderful and abundant bounties. Moreover, due to its vast religious and cultural diversity, top many festivals, festivities and fairs are celebrated regularly every year. The Hindus have a large number of festivals but Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, Dussehra are their major festivals. The festivals like Holi, Diwali, Moharram, Baisakhi, Christmas, Budh Purnima, Mahavir Jayanti etc. are celebrated by people of all communities, class and religions in India.

Among all the festivals, my favourite festival is of course Diwali. It is celebrated just before the setting in of winter season, at the end of October or many a times in the beginning of November. According to the Hindu calendar, Diwali is celebrated on the 15th of the month of Kartik- when the weather is pleasant—being neither too hot nor too cold. The festival is celebrated in the joyous memory of Ramchandra's return to Ayodhya after an exile of 14 years. The people of Ayodhya had lit 'diyas' using ghee to express their infinite joy on the return of their beloved Ram. One can imagine the entire city being lit up on a moonless night with strings of 'deepaks' and candles. That was the first Diwali to be celebrated. Since then, Diwali is celebrated to commensurate the return of Ram—the ideal man of our civilization. Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth too is worshipped on this day.

Days before the coming of Diwali, preparations begin. The markets get crowded and busy. People come out of their homes to buy things in order to prepare delicacies, new clothes, crackers etc and the shops are decorated to attract the buyers. Women and children get busy in cleaning up the homes, getting them whitewashed or painted and preparing sweets. New...