Gandhiji & Diwali…a revelation

A BIG thanks to all you guys who remembered to wish me on my birthday. Although, with every passing birthday, the bones start screaming a little more than before and the hard disk capacity of mind needs up gradation with more memories taking up space, but still it feels great to get SMS’s, Blurbs, Writings on Walls and Tweets. Thanks again all you guys. A special thanks to all my students at MET who made me feel so very special. Thanks. They are a wonderful bunch of aspiring Film and Television professionals.

I want to share a little secret that I have recently discovered during the Beautiful festival of Diwali. The noise of crackers was getting on to my nerves. I wanted to go out and make some more noise by beating the hell out of those guys who were bursting all those crackers. But then, with a loud bang, a realization entered my mind, like a rocket bomb.

What is Diwali? A celebration, Lord Rama coming back to Ayodhya after fourteen years? The night when Maa Laxmi showers her special blessings on those who pray the maximum, at the right time, with the right ingredients and with the right payment errrrr DAKSHINA made to the Pandit? All these facts are there to be accepted. After all who am I to question the mythological brigade of our country? Neither do I have the authority nor the knowledge to do so. But one fact that has been overlooked by everyone is that Diwali supports the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation.

Gandhiji advocated the theory of ‘Bura Mat Dekho; Bura Mat Bolo; Bura Mat Suno’. That is what modern Diwali celebrations are aimed at, ‘See No evil; Hear No Evil; Speak No Evil’

The world today has more evil than ever. Why do I say that? Well, even wearing Jeans is considered evil at some places. Now I also understand why Mumbai is so Denim, errrrr Evil place. Coming back to what I was saying, Evil is everywhere. Then comes Diwali. Some caretakers of our society (I am not talking of any political wing) have taken the responsibility to spread Gandhiji’s vision, by hook or by CROOK.

 

HEAR NO EVIL

These caretakers go out there, spend their hard earned money and buy crackers that would burst your nervous system too, not just your tiny eardrums. Now they place those ‘bombs’ strategically in building compounds, from where the damage would be maximum and even a dead person would get up from his permanent sleep. The moment the ‘bomb’ explodes, your eardrums start shivering and a good part of it goes numb, sometimes alL of it. Now tell me, how on this earth are you going to hear any evil that is spread across this society of ours?

SEE NO EVIL

Next is even more difficult. The success rate in this next attempt is not very high but they are trying and I am sure one day they would be doing much better. They again plant crackers very strategically. But this time round, it is not those loud crackers; they have already done their job. This time it is those crackers that emit light at intensity that would blind the good old Sun too. Now just when you are driving, or walking your child or carrying things, such that you can not avoid those lights, that they enter your eyes with force. Mostly they blind you just for a few moments (as I said the success rate is not very high) but sometimes they succeed and you are rushed to the hospital (which is generally short of doctors because of Diwali) and after treatment for a few days, you are declared blind. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

HEAR NO EVIL

But the most difficult is ‘Bura Mat Bolo’ part. This is not just bursting of a cracker or placing it at a strategic point. Here one has to constantly work, non-stop and hard. Just by spending a few hundreds on crackers this cannot be achieved. For this, one needs to spend thousands, without blinking an eye.  ‘Bomb’ after ‘bomb’, sutlies, rockets and every other cracker available in market is used. It is a process where the smoke on road reminds you of roads in Simla on a foggy cold morning. The car headlights also shouldn’t help much if the work has been carried on efficiently. But just this much smoke is not serving much of a process. Crackers have to be burst continuously, regularly, even at 3AM, 4AM so that the morning joggers, breathing heavily are affected by the smoke and develop sore throat and asthma. Those already suffering from asthma, have a better chance of being a victim.

It just took me a few minutes to punch these thoughts but just imagine the ceaseless efforts of those people who work day in and day out to create these pollution and walk on Gandhiji’s principles of ‘See No Evil; Hear No Evil; Speak No Evil’. Congratulations guys! You are doing a wonderful job.