Lit your life, find yourself again!

Aayat was juggling multiple tasks at the office. She had a meeting to attend at 4:00 PM, for which she was collecting her thoughts so she could speak up in the meeting. Suddenly, she noticed the date and realised, “Oh, this is Diwali week! Instantly, she became happy, and a series of happiness and excitement rushed into her. She was smiling on her own. Then suddenly, one voice came from the other side of the laptop, “Aayat, Are you on a call? If you are speaking, you are on mute. “ The cloud of happiness and excitement that was wandering over her poofed and she had to get back to her work.

She was trying to keep her Diwali thoughts on hold and decided to buy things while returning from the office. She was eagerly waiting for the day to end. While returning, she looked into the market. The market was normal. There was no hint of any festival. Everything was so normal that day. The market, the surroundings, everything was so quiet. The street was as empty as it could be. Only traffic lights glistened, no Diwali lights. No rush to buy Diyas, lanterns , crackers, etc. The only rush was to catch the next bus, cab, or rickshaw to reach home.

She felt she might be wrong and assured herself that maybe she had seen the wrong dates. Maybe Diwali is next week.

After a tiring full day, she lay down to rest and took the phone to scroll through social media. Her favourite insta page uploaded a beautiful picture of a celebration with the caption “Happy Diwali”, which evoked her childhood memories.

The whole world was enjoying the colourful lights and the bursting of crackers. The smell of crackers made her nostalgic. Diwali was being celebrated, but not where she is living now. It was all dead silent. No sign of festivity. Nothing.

A million emotions burst inside her that she felt all at once. She became numb and tears silently started to flow down her cheeks.

Her mind started to question everything. Is this the price we pay for being independent ? Is this adulthood ?

She looked around and noticed she was surrounded by people, but only the programmed ones. People who live with a certain set of rules, which are embedded in them. For any situation, they carry only one emotion, i.e., “cut, copy, paste smile,” because there is no room for other emotions. People have become robots. The irony is, those who invented the robot have now become one of them.

While her mind was still questioning everything and breaking her in pieces, her heart made sure that she should find peace too. She opened her old storage box and took out the old Diyas she had and washed it with tears and lit the light of courage to celebrate herself. This Diwali, Aayat celebrated her adulthood and cherished the childhood treasures that she carries in her heart.

She conquered the adulthood loneliness with childhood contentment, just as virtue always gets victory over vice.

And that’s how she celebrated an eco-friendly Diwali. How was yours ?