Today is Diwali, a Hindu festive holiday. I know very little of this culture and noticed posters on the tube talking about Diwali. So this morning I received a message from a friend, congratulating me with the new year. I asked him to shed light over this occasion. his email«Time for a brief Religious Studies lesson:
One of our gods was exiled from his kingdom for 14 years. Nearing the end of his exile he defeated a bad guy, freed a nation, which is now Sri Lanka and rescused his wife. On his return home to show him the way, people from his kingdom lined the path with 'Divas' indian candles. This was to light his path home. And his return was today, so we call it Divali. Its the most religious day of the year for us. So on these days Hindus all over the world light divas in their homes, give gifts, charity, visit loved ones, light fireworks and pretty much party hard in celebration of good over evil, light over dark. It's very special.
Tomorrow is new year for us. So we visit the mandir (temple) and all our elders and ask for their blessings for the coming year.
I want to go to India one day to experience this. I bet its amazing. There's more but that's for a proper conversation.»
They are celebrating Light and good over evil, a wonderful and spiritual thought missing in the western culture. Thanks Jai, I'm looking forward to this conversation.
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