A Great Festival Of India! Poem by Ramesh T A

The Festival of Lights

The Moonless dark night sky with a few stars twinkling,
The festival of lights begins like a festival of fire.
The sparkling crackers brilliantly cracking before every house,
The night has become a living day light in the town.
The sound of crackers stepping up from the morning twilight,
Sustains so even after the day break till the end of the day!

Wearing costumes of varying hues suiting to the occasion,
People go afresh to the temples like new born flowers.
Offering prayers before the beloved Lord for a better future,
They stand in queues to salute Him and leave for the home.
At home all share the holy prasad wearing colourful dresses;
Flowers and fruits they wear and taste without any exception.
Gathering round the dining table then they eat the breakfast
With special sweets specially prepared for the fine occasion.

Sumptuously satisfying the stomach they have very long hours
In the morning to read special greetings and colourful magazines with
Abundant articles and popular mythological stories about the festival,
Depicting final victory for dharma over adharma in the battle between both.

Hindu mythology depicts personifications of Dharma and Adharma
As Divine and Animal, Good and Evil and Love and Hatred everywhere;
Posing a big threat to the existence of the whole of mankind and Gods,
The one time all powerful demon king Narakasura fought against Krishna,
The God of Dharma who took upon himself the cause of all and
Slew the demon by severing his head with the Sudharsan Chakra;
And from then on wards the Festival of Lights is celebrated as Diwali.

The Festival of Lights, Diwali means the Light of Luminous Flame,
Leading articles explain etymologically in colourful Diwali magazines;
So goes the descriptions about Diwali in many articles and poems.
The Light of Luminous Flame drives away the Darkness of Confusion;
The Evils of Eternal Darkness are eliminated by the Brightness of Blue Light!

The matter of discussion among the family members is on good and evil;
The triumph of the good, the fall of the evil, the restoration of happiness,
The simple thinking of good men goes on so generation after generation.
But the youth go out to see friends to have a good time till satisfied;
The visitors exchange greetings and enjoy the company of their choice;
The children not bothering about food, clothing and health play with fires;
And the mature indoors discuss with the visitors about the serious matters.

The serious matters, affecting sincere activities, curb human progress.
What are the serious matters? Ask many though familiar and forgotten;
Corruption, dowry, unemployment, poverty, ignorance and disease -
Those are the evils discussed as the serious matters everywhere.
For the bright future of mankind the Lord has to destroy the evils.
But a luminous brightness comes to all only after deep contemplation;
Such a feat when once achieved that day the darkness is driven!

The end of the discussion of the friends comes at the lunch hour;
TV programme takes them to the places of fun and pageantry.
Then it’s evening when white birds fly towards the South;
Colourful illumination everywhere catches the eye of everyone;
The earthenware lights at the entrance, staircase and balconies,
The sound and light of colourful crackers put the town in jubilation;
The Festival of Lights breaks so all barriers in freedom and happiness!