Festivities...Good times, celebrations, good food, sweets, family and friends. What more can I ask for? Lights and the aroma of the festive season fill up our homes, soul and mind. And as the days pass by, and the festivity approaches, it grips me, entralls me, taking to a new level of freedom, emotions, and anticipation. I experience an adrenaline rush. I like it, enjoy it. But it gets me anxious. Is this festivity getting the same anticipation for all? Or am I one of the few blessed ones? Food for thought.
With Diwali on the onset, there are a few issues that resurface. Pollution, global warming, environmental hazards. Is that what Diwali has become? Is that what festivity has in store for us and our future? I guess not. I hope not. It is what we have made it. I believe so. To each his own though. Critics are welcome. So is empathy. And I say empathy, not sympathy. Yes, we are facing global warming, we are ruining our natural environment. But let bygones be bygones. What is of need now is what we can do now. Let us take small steps at a time. We could begin with a bit of tolerance. We could begin with a bit of sharing. Isnt that what our festive stand for primarily?
I have learnt to share my space, my environment with others. And I am not talking of family and friends. I talk of friends of the other kind. The animal friends. That is one issue I feel like taking up this Diwali, to spread happiness around me. I did not wish to restrict myself to humans alone. Not this time. We humans have got multiple sources for that. What we do affects them too right...My strays. My friends, more like my children. Yes they are, and I am proud to say so. Neither ashamed, nor embarrassed. I feel bad to see them scared. I am so used to seeing their tails wagging, that it pinches me to see them look for space to hide, to escape our crackers, our celebrations. And yet we celebrate. Amazes me to wonder how!!! I look into their eyes, they still are happy to see me, they want me to pet them, but alas, here goes another BOOM, and they run helter scelter. And I stand there, wishing and hoping I could do something.
So I will this season. Diwali is a season to spread happiness, to meet loved ones, to celebrate the spirit of being yourself. I will do just that. No compromises. I will celebrate with my strays and other animals. Make sure I do not do anything to make our festivity a nightmare for them. I say no to crackers, to pollution this Diwali. And I say no to inhumane behavior to them otherwise. This, for me is the spirit of Diwali. It gives me great joy, which magnifies with the fact that I am trying to do something for my animal friends as well, by being more responsible. Hoping all of you find your festive spirit, just the way I found mine. Then we will celebrate in its true essence. A grand welcome to festivities!
Post by Akshaya Vikas Kawle
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