First off, let me wish you all a very joyous and glowing Deepavali. I wish this Deepavali brings not just material prosperity to us all, but brings more generosity so that we can share our abundance with others. That’s downright being selfish, if you know what I mean; well, happiness grows by sharing, so why not share and grow our happiness!!
If I start talking about and suggesting you where to go this weekend, what with all of the weekend full with ‘festivals’, I’m going to get spammed with hate mails and choicest abuses of which only Doonites are capable of (there’s an earlier article referring to them in Full Plate). So that takes care of the weekend stuff. But still, I’m supposed to write some ‘meaningful’ stuff up to a ‘certain’ length every week or so. That leaves me caring for what to write.
Infact, all my mind’s full of is the row of festivals coming. And I’m already beginning to feel good, so I hope are all of us. After all, its our Major ‘tyohar’. And anyway, shopping, celebrations, happy faces all around and meeting up people always fill up my being with just such a glow as Elizabeth Gilbert describes in her book ‘Eat,Pray,Love’. I bet even she hasn’t tasted the glow of celebrating Deepavali.
Every weekend we travel to someplace that brings us happiness and joy, adventure and fun. This week, I propose we take happiness and joy, and travel around with it. But be careful, happiness is very contagious, so spread it with caution. As you take it with you around the city meeting and greeting family, relatives, friends and people, it’s going to infect them as well, and before you know, you would be surrounded by a massive all round feeling of happiness, the only kind that bring such a glow to your being that lights up a lifetime.
Let’s travel with peace, abundance and tolerance as well. They are in short supply, and if you can spread them around, everyone will thank you.
As in this world full of capitalism, there are ‘fake’ happinesses to be found too. They are sold in the market in bright shiny packages, and promise you unbelievable ‘glows’. But this Deepavali, stay away from such fake promises of ‘happiness’. Don’t fall in for expensive over displays of lighting. They will only shoot up your electricity bill, and their glow will last but a while. Follow the traditional practice of glowing ‘diyas’ full of colour and cleaning up your air. And let’s stay as far away as possible from those things that produce a lot of noise and boom, but bring a monthful of gloomy skies and polluted air to the city.
And let’s remember, there are thousands in our state who just a short while back faced the worst trauma of their lives, losing their homes and families. Let us also be sensitive to them, and while celebrating our joy, pledge to share a little of our ‘abundance’ with them, and help them in their crisis.
Enjoy a ‘glowing’ Deepavali.
Him Ahuja is an avid traveler and runs a travel blog named http://allhimalaya.com
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