Happy Deepawali!!

Let's change the way we celebrate it all the time!

Let's prepare to celebrate the future!!

It’s time for Deepawali. The festival considered to bring light upon darkness, victory over evil.

We, The Rock gang, of 7 members belonging to different religions celebrate all the festivals. We host parties and have fun. It’s always Deepak and Riya to arrange everything. Natasha and Abhi are fashion geeks, they design theme based clothes. I make invitation cards to our families and other friends. Dimple is the laziest of all, always interested in deciding the menu for the party. Sam, being the smart and handsome in the gang, practices for a dance for the party.

We were all making plans for the Deepawali party. Dimple who never shows interest in anything else apart from deciding the menu, this time she decided to host the party. We all were just shocked. We asked her again, if she is Dimple for sure and I pricked her to check if I was not dreaming. She was so enthusiastic to throw the party. We agreed to let her host. Her plan was to make it a soundless Deepawali, yet colorful and bright. We were not allowed to bring or burn crackers. We all had no choice but to support her as it was the first time she took the initiative.

I made the greeting cards and sent to everyone. Our dresses were ready for the day. Dinner menu was ready too. We also got gifts and sweets for each other.

As Dimple was busy with the plan, rests of us were sitting in a room, thinking what fun it would be without crackers. So we decided to get the crackers unnoticed. This was our secret plan.

Everything was going as planned; we made Rangolis, decorated the Lamps, packed the gifts and also checked the dresses to see if it was fit.

Finally, it was the day. We all gathered in the morning in the designed attire. We did puja, lighted lamps, and distributed sweets and gifts. Celebration without pictures is incomplete, so, clicked a lot of them. We had a delicious lunch together. We decided to change the heavy dress to something casual for the evening fun.

It was about 5 p.m. that we started the party. It was Sam’s performance and he rocked the party and we couldn’t stop tapping our feet on the beat. We all danced on all kinds of songs.

After about an hour, the lights went off. The music stopped and it was silence everywhere. We could not see anything and hence we stood where we were. We received a text at the same time on our phones from Dimple, asking all of us to gather at the terrace as the light went off. But, we were afraid to step, as it was all dark. Another message, it’s only when you step ahead you enlighten. We thought she was just playing with us. I thought to find her and tell her to stop. As soon as I moved one step ahead, the light on the floor lit. The other step lighted the other one. Now, we understood the message and we all moved to the terrace. The lighting on the floor was so amazing.

We all gathered at the terrace but still could not find her. Finally, a voice from behind said- “Happy Diwali”. As we turned back, we just gazed upon the sky; it was a laser light show with the exact image of the beautiful crackers burning. On the other side, we saw beautiful colored lanterns just flying high in the sky. This plan was of Dimple’s alone. We all loved it. It was beautiful than burning the crackers and polluting the environment with noise and air.

We all went down for the dinner. After dinner, Sam messaged us stating that he is ready outside with crackers. So, we blindfolded Dimple to give her surprise. As soon as we went down, Sam took a big loop of crackers and burnt it. The sound boomed all over.

Dimple just closed her ears with her hands, started to cry and shouted, please stop it. Stop it, please. We all started to laugh at her thinking that she is afraid of these crackers and we kept chasing her by burning more of it. She was shivering with the loud voice. She ran immediately weeping loud and closed herself in a room. We thought that she was frightened. We didn’t know that she is afraid of the crackers and that’s why she planned it her way.

We all knocked the door, but she was still frightened. We told her sorry and requested to open the door.

After ten minutes, she did pass a letter through the bottom part of the door. Sam opened the letter and read it aloud.

The letter said- “It was my plan to stay away from the crackers. You all now know that I am afraid of the crackers. It is not because I have never burnt them. I have celebrated it too. But, it’s for 5 years that at this time I hide from these. This time I tried to make it easy for me. But, you guys did what I didn’t want to. It was not Deepawali, but before 5 years, I have heard the sound just like the crackers, seen fire all around. It was the bomb blast, I was right there losing my parents. From that time, when I hear this noise, I see the same thing happening right in front of me. Yes, I am afraid.

I am not sure what is the fun in burning the crackers? Many children die while burning them. Many factories and homes catch fire. The celebration is not in doing things that are harmful. That’s why I wanted It to be different. I am sorry that you guys didn’t enjoy.

We requested her to open the door and we all hugged her as the door opened.

We promised her to share this beautiful message to the world. Also, all of us wish you a safe and a Happy Deepawali. May this enlighten your soul and turn your lives colorful.