“The International Year of Light and Light-based
Technologies, 2015 (IYL 2015) is a United Nations observance that
aims to raise awareness of the achievements of light science and its
applications, and its importance to humankind. IYL 2015 opening
ceremonies was held on 19–20 January 2015 in Paris.”
It’s also to be noted that the 2014 Physics Nobel went to
three scientists from the Land of the Rising Sun (Japan) for "for
the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright
and energy-saving white light sources."Thus after a long break I thought it best to have a revive the blog on Diwali: the Festival of Lights and a celebration that is also like many others of the victory of Good over Evil but with the heart of it being the power of light on a dark night. People celebrate together and brave cold, windy and (in the case of South India…) rainy nights and dawn to put on awesome light displays through crackers as well as lighting lamps around the house on this New Moon Day.
The festival also includes the Dhanteras festival which celebrates the birth of the Goddess of Wealth – Lakshmi and the God of Wealth Dhanwantri churned out of the Great Ocean by the Gods and Demons working together. Health and Wealth became intrinsically linked right from our ancient texts.
There have been some great life lessons and inspiring words that have come my way over this period:
(1)
The first is about the Fight of Good and Evil over the
eons (Yugs) to when the greatest good
and the greatest evil is the psyche and human nature where this never-ending war
takes place. Now more than ever we need more victories of Good over Evil in our
thoughts, deeds, actions and beliefs.
This has been beautifully put elaborated upon in the following Facebook post:
(2)
Second is a realization I came to after nearly 14 hours
without electricity during this Diwali season due to rain wrecked power lines
and flooding across the city.
It’s at times like these we realize how much we take for granted. If the
power was not restored in time we would have had to celebrate the festival of
lights without electric lights and all the labour saving devices that run on
electricity.At times like these one hopes to do better for those without access to dependable electricity supply.
While many parts of India welcome the rains – the fact of the matter is that our infrastructure is ill-equipped to deal with flooding just after a few hours of rain. It’s ironic that in many water starved regions face a lot of flooding related problems. Better rain-water harvesting and un-clogged storm water drains are as much the responsibility of people as it is the government, for so much of our clogged storm drains are a result of irresponsible behaviour such as littering on a massive scale, and irresponsible disposal of plastic.
(3)
Third, is a beautiful interpretation of Ramayan that I
came across in the Dushera Greetings. Considering one of the first celebrations
of Diwali is mentioned to be the celebration in Ayodya to celebrate the return
of the victorious Ram, Sita and Lakshman I thought I’d share this too:
May there be peace, prosperity, health and happiness always in you lives
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