Diwali used to be my favorite festival as a kid. Somewhere in the process of "growing up", it appears that some indifference has crept in towards this festival of lights! So much so, that there have been a few instances of Diwali where I simply preferred to sleep all day and all night!
But this year was different. After a long gap, I was to celebrate this festival in HYDERABAD! The lights flickered and dazzled and permeated the darkness of the night. And then the sound energy refused to be left behind and the noise seemed to be in some kind of random symphony with the photons!
And we did a quick pooja - you cant get away from that in my inlaws place anyways! :)
Then we rushed downstairs and we were so eager to burst the crackers. Our neighbors had already started the fest! And while Niharika went upstairs for getting a few candles/deepas and agarbattis something caught my attention.
While the neighbors were merry making, I could not help but notice that a few young kids were sitting in a corner being spectators to the fun others were having. It was clear that they could not afford to buy crackers. They stared at the lights and were content being passively involved while everyone around them continued to burst the fanciest of crackers!
When Niharika came down I learnt that they were the watchman's kids. My first reaction was that of anger! Thank God there was no hammer in my hand at that time! I really wished one of the rockets I would light later was pointed straight into their house!
All my enthu was drained when I saw that the neighbor 'aunty' was so delighted every time her older daughter ignited a flower pot, and clapped when the younger one lit a bhoo-chakra! Now is she blind? Can't she see 4 kids sitting there with no crackers in their hands? Then the neighbor 'uncle' comes out and he makes sure 'aunty' and the kids had a great time! I kept staring at him and was almost on an impulse to say "you see these kids everyday! cant you spare 2 of those crackers for these little ones?" Something stopped me! Dont know what? May be I have been conditioned that "gentlemen do not question such things"?
When I walked upto the little kids and asked them if they wanted to join us I expected that they would just jump and grab things from me. But I was surprised with the discipline and self esteem they had. They smiled back so elegantly. While I gave them flower pots they continued smiling back and had perfect manners and courtesy to say "Thank you uncle!". This soft whisper simply overshadowed all the high decibel noise all around me! And for the first time I was not annoyed being reffered to as "UNCLE"! :P
Renuka, Monica, Parshu and Meena - having a little blast! :)
I was prepared to supervise one kid (read my wife!) but little did I realize that I would end up supervising four additional ones that night. These kids would get their sparklers to the corner where all our crackers were stacked! And one girl was so small that she was trying to light the sparkler at the wrong end!
We had a little fun, I bursted a lot of crackers myself, shared a few and watched a few more fireworks around me! It felt like a perfect diwali.
That is when I noticed this neighbor 'aunty' come forward and handover a 'pencil' each to the kids! I was happy that she finally realized that she neglected these kids who are the same age as her own little ones. Kids who happen to live right in front of her house. The same kids who would clear up all the trash the next day morning that comes out from bursting these crackers!
How I wish that I do not observe as closely as I do! I soon realized that the kids' mom was around at that time. It really hit me so hard... shame on us! We want all our actions to be acknowledged! Everything is so calculated! Now a small gesture of sharing a little piece with a kid had to be timed so well that their mother knows who has given them that little gift?
And back they went into their world. Uncle, aunty, the older daughter and their younger one! Thats all they care for! Suddenly the anger I had subsided and it was being replaced with a different feeling. Disgust may be ... and then it transformed to 'pity'!
Yes, I pity that they had lost a beautiful opportunity to teach their kids the importance of sharing what we have with the ones who are not so blessed! And then these are the same people who blame the next generation not being compassionate enough! Now... what are we teaching our kids? I walked out feeling sorry for these materially blessed but emotionally impoverished creatures!
Back to crackers and fireworks... it was a blast! Had loads of fun... and I guess all you people too had a wonderful Deepavali! :)
But this year was different. After a long gap, I was to celebrate this festival in HYDERABAD! The lights flickered and dazzled and permeated the darkness of the night. And then the sound energy refused to be left behind and the noise seemed to be in some kind of random symphony with the photons!
And we did a quick pooja - you cant get away from that in my inlaws place anyways! :)
Then we rushed downstairs and we were so eager to burst the crackers. Our neighbors had already started the fest! And while Niharika went upstairs for getting a few candles/deepas and agarbattis something caught my attention.
While the neighbors were merry making, I could not help but notice that a few young kids were sitting in a corner being spectators to the fun others were having. It was clear that they could not afford to buy crackers. They stared at the lights and were content being passively involved while everyone around them continued to burst the fanciest of crackers!
When Niharika came down I learnt that they were the watchman's kids. My first reaction was that of anger! Thank God there was no hammer in my hand at that time! I really wished one of the rockets I would light later was pointed straight into their house!
All my enthu was drained when I saw that the neighbor 'aunty' was so delighted every time her older daughter ignited a flower pot, and clapped when the younger one lit a bhoo-chakra! Now is she blind? Can't she see 4 kids sitting there with no crackers in their hands? Then the neighbor 'uncle' comes out and he makes sure 'aunty' and the kids had a great time! I kept staring at him and was almost on an impulse to say "you see these kids everyday! cant you spare 2 of those crackers for these little ones?" Something stopped me! Dont know what? May be I have been conditioned that "gentlemen do not question such things"?
When I walked upto the little kids and asked them if they wanted to join us I expected that they would just jump and grab things from me. But I was surprised with the discipline and self esteem they had. They smiled back so elegantly. While I gave them flower pots they continued smiling back and had perfect manners and courtesy to say "Thank you uncle!". This soft whisper simply overshadowed all the high decibel noise all around me! And for the first time I was not annoyed being reffered to as "UNCLE"! :P
Renuka, Monica, Parshu and Meena - having a little blast! :)
I was prepared to supervise one kid (read my wife!) but little did I realize that I would end up supervising four additional ones that night. These kids would get their sparklers to the corner where all our crackers were stacked! And one girl was so small that she was trying to light the sparkler at the wrong end!
We had a little fun, I bursted a lot of crackers myself, shared a few and watched a few more fireworks around me! It felt like a perfect diwali.
That is when I noticed this neighbor 'aunty' come forward and handover a 'pencil' each to the kids! I was happy that she finally realized that she neglected these kids who are the same age as her own little ones. Kids who happen to live right in front of her house. The same kids who would clear up all the trash the next day morning that comes out from bursting these crackers!
How I wish that I do not observe as closely as I do! I soon realized that the kids' mom was around at that time. It really hit me so hard... shame on us! We want all our actions to be acknowledged! Everything is so calculated! Now a small gesture of sharing a little piece with a kid had to be timed so well that their mother knows who has given them that little gift?
And back they went into their world. Uncle, aunty, the older daughter and their younger one! Thats all they care for! Suddenly the anger I had subsided and it was being replaced with a different feeling. Disgust may be ... and then it transformed to 'pity'!
Yes, I pity that they had lost a beautiful opportunity to teach their kids the importance of sharing what we have with the ones who are not so blessed! And then these are the same people who blame the next generation not being compassionate enough! Now... what are we teaching our kids? I walked out feeling sorry for these materially blessed but emotionally impoverished creatures!
Back to crackers and fireworks... it was a blast! Had loads of fun... and I guess all you people too had a wonderful Deepavali! :)
4 comments:
I just got on this site… I really like the site and your posts… Here are couple of comments on this post… Please take these comments in a positive spirit…I don’t mean to offend you in any way…
You seem to carry quite few ‘pre-conceived notions’… such as… those little kids jumping and grabbing things from you…you being surprised at their discipline and self esteem…
Also, you can't be judgmental with your neighbors based on just one incident... It’s somewhat preposterous of you to say the 'aunty' was publicizing her generosity when you yourself have eloquently published your generosity with a photograph to prove...
NOW, I know your intentions are sincere in putting up the post, what I am trying to say is… it depends on how you perceive things around you... If you frame the whole situation in a positive frame, you might see your neighbors in a different light... Just the way I put a negative spin to your generosity… Nice post though…
@anon
Point taken!
The pic was put up to share the joy with other readers... isnt it a sheer pleasure for anyone to watch these little kids enjoying themselves!
BUT your comment made me think for a while... and I will make a confession...
YES! There was a bit of preconceived notions...
I have to admit that when I introspected for a while, I think your take is right!
If you allow me to tell you a little truth... I would have loved to share a little bit of the crackers with them even if I did not have a camera with me then.
Although not in this context, let me confess it is indeed true that I still havent completely got to a stage where I shun away the credit! When I work, I make sure my work gets noticed and I get rewarded for that... I am trying to mould my thinking to work for the pleasure of working... I am getting there... have been conciously working on that for a while... but bear with me that it is still work in progress! :)
Hey... and thanks for your honest comments. I will be happy to rethink about the whole thing once more.
Thanks... appreciate your honesty and humility... it was refreshing to read your reply... count me in as a regular visitor of your site...
@anon
i will be happy to have you here... :)
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