By: Janki R. Patel
Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights and it coincides with the Gujarati New Year. It symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. We celebrate Diwali for five days, usually in late Oc tober or early November, based off of the lunar calendar. The first day is Dhanteras in which we seek blessings from Laxmi Mata of well-being and prosperity. Kali Chaudas is the second day and this is when we light our homes with diyas (clay lamps) and create colored patterns called rangoli on the ground. The third day is Diwali and it is also the New Year’s Eve of the Gujarati calendar. The fourth day marks the Gujarat i New Year, and the Govardhana Puja is performed to symbolize the importance of nature in life. Traditionally, a mountain of food, also known as Annakut, will be created to show our gratitude for the past year and seek blessings for the New Year. On this day, we generally greet each other with the phrase “Sal Mubarak” which roughly translates to “Happy New Year.” The fifth day is Bhai Bij, which is a day where brothers visit their sisters, who pray for their brother’s safety, well-being, and success.
How do we incorporate our theme of “live positive” into our day to day lives? We start small, with baby steps. Our karma is our thoughts, words, and actions, and through Diwali, we focus on the concept of good over evil and light over darkness. Carrying on this concept throughout the entirety of the year will assure that we are taking steps to consistently live positively. Everything begins with our thoughts. Good thoughts lead to good words and actions. During Diwali, we clean and decorate our houses. We light diyas and fireworks and draw rangoli patterns. It is a time of celebration and happiness. We pray and wish for prosperity and positivity in our upcoming new year. But the surest way to make this a reality is through creating our own positive karma.
How do we create this kind of positivity in our daily lives? We all have the power to bring light and positivity to our lives. Perhaps setting aside a little bit of time weekly to reflect on this would be beneficial for all of us. During Diwali, we cleanse our home and wear new clothes going into the new year. Of course we cannot clean our homes and wear new clothing every single day, but we can take an active role in keeping our thoughts, words, and actions clean. If we give ourselves a chance to reflect on our lives periodically and ask ourselves what is added and what is taking away the quality of our life, we will be able to add more good and less bad. We are all capable of bringing more good into our lives, especially through Paramguru’s and Guruji’s guidance. If we trust in him and do what is right, we can live everyday like it is Diwali.