KARACHI: The modest homes lined inside the compound around the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on Monday were all lit and decorated with colourful fairy lights and clay lamps, also those battery-operated plastic lamps and candles for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

The Sindh government had already declared Monday as a holiday for the Hindu community in all offices, autonomous, semi-autonomous bodies, corporations and local councils so there was nothing coming in the way of them and the celebrations.

The entrance of each home was also decorated with pretty and colourful designs known as the rangoli. The practice of making rangoli is considered auspicious even in the Zoroastrian or Parsi culture. Rangoli carries a spiritual significance as it reflects happiness and liveliness.

Both the lights and the decorated entrances welcome the goddess Lakshmi, who, according to Hindu mythology, is known to bring wealth and good luck.

Diwali, in fact, is celebrated to commemorate the birthday of Lakshmi. It is also said that she chose to get married on her birthday to Lord Vishnu, the god of preservation and the protector of the universe, according to Hindu scriptures. Therefore, there is a double celebration.

Another belief associates the Diwali festival with Lord Rama’s victory over the devil Ravana. It is said that after finishing him off when Rama returned to his home city of Ayodhaya, he was welcomed back by the people by lighting up his path with oil lamps.

Back to present times, the festivity also includes cooking of halwa or other sweetmeats at home or just buying them from any sweetmeat shop to distribute among friends and family.

But the other things associated with this festival such as the fire crackers, the rockets, etc., turn the temple premises into a battlefield with mines all around. It is not clear why they are so popular, but the naughty children are absolutely in love with them. They also like sparklers, which are quite harmless, but the other things are both noisy and scary.

So if you see anything resembling a smoking cigarette stub that has not been put out on the ground on Diwali night, run as fast as you can or cover your ears with your palms. They are firecrackers, not cigarette stubs. And the naughty children seem to have an endless supply as they never run out of them and love to place a firecracker near your feet. Then as it goes off, you jump and scream and they squeal with delight and are jumping up and down as they clap their hands.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2022