Happy Diwali!

The festival of lights has arrived yet again and let me wish all of you a Very Happy and Safe Deepavali. The stories that give reason for such a celebration are many but the fact that is underlined in these stories is that might is not always right and justice prevails. Evil forces are ultimately conquered and truth wins. We need to remind ourselves of these optimistic messages whatever our religious belief. That is perhaps why Deepavali is welcomed by one and all. Do we need to be told that if Lord Ram had to fight a single Ravan- so what if he had 10 heads- We have to fight several Ravans in our everyday life.

To a father who tries to get his daughter married a dowry demanding groom and his parents must appear as Ravan personified.

To a pensioner who has to grease the palms of a dealing assistant to get his papers processed, the corrupt official who encourages his sub ordinates to do so and accepts a share of the bribe thus collected would be a modern version of Narakasur. When is Krishna planning to intervene? Or should we all become modern Krishnas and fight corruption?

The unborn female child who is subjected to sex determination tests and killed in the womb has to first deal with injustice at the hands of her own parents followed by doctors who say 'if not me it will be someone else. Why not me then?'

The terrorist who trains youngsters to become suicide bombers are amalgamations of 10 demons put together.

The best way to celebrate Deepavali would be to say a big NO to all social evils. We all have a Ram within us. We only need to identify our strength. The terrorist, corrupt officials and illegally functioning poly clinics would cease to exist if we stopped patronizing them. Let us take one step at a time and learn to stand up for our rights. The strength it gives is unbelievable.

A Happy Deepavali to all!