Deepavali, or Diwali, is the Hindu festival of lights.
It is a celebration of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. The children were celebrating not having to go to school. I was celebrating being able to watch them enthralled by the fireworks.
Aravind and Ebinezer
Mariyadoss
Praveenkanth
Soniya
Nadiya, Nagelakshmi, Rosy, and Amirtham
Christraj and Sanjay
As every year on Deepavali, the evening loomed dark and moonless. This is symbolic of the state of the world under the reign of evil Ramana. But fortuitously, heroic (and enlightened) Rama rushes to the rescue.
"Your beautiful wife is mine," jeered Ramana. "Never!" cried Rama. He drew his sword and chopped off one of Ravana's heads. The head grew back at once. Rama sliced off another. But that grew back too.
Trembling with rage, Rama took a magic arrow from his belt. This time he aimed at Ravana's heart. As the arrow pierced Ravana's skin he let out a long, deep moan and fell to the ground.
But skipping to the end:
By the time they reached their city, the streets were lined with cheering crowds. Each person had lit a little oil lamp to welcome them--and Rama and Sita were made king and queen. Il lieto fine.
So we all light candles and set off fireworks to commemorate, illuminating the grim sky.
Tonight reminds me of Bertold Brecht's interplay between light and darkness in his play on the life of Galilei Galileo. After countless references on the topic, we encounter these lines just before the hero's disappearance. The words struck a chord with me when I first read them: despite it all, the night is yet light.
Galileo: Wie ist die Nacht?
Virginia am Fenster: Hell.
It is a celebration of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. The children were celebrating not having to go to school. I was celebrating being able to watch them enthralled by the fireworks.
As every year on Deepavali, the evening loomed dark and moonless. This is symbolic of the state of the world under the reign of evil Ramana. But fortuitously, heroic (and enlightened) Rama rushes to the rescue.
"Your beautiful wife is mine," jeered Ramana. "Never!" cried Rama. He drew his sword and chopped off one of Ravana's heads. The head grew back at once. Rama sliced off another. But that grew back too.
Trembling with rage, Rama took a magic arrow from his belt. This time he aimed at Ravana's heart. As the arrow pierced Ravana's skin he let out a long, deep moan and fell to the ground.
But skipping to the end:
By the time they reached their city, the streets were lined with cheering crowds. Each person had lit a little oil lamp to welcome them--and Rama and Sita were made king and queen. Il lieto fine.
So we all light candles and set off fireworks to commemorate, illuminating the grim sky.
Tonight reminds me of Bertold Brecht's interplay between light and darkness in his play on the life of Galilei Galileo. After countless references on the topic, we encounter these lines just before the hero's disappearance. The words struck a chord with me when I first read them: despite it all, the night is yet light.
Galileo: Wie ist die Nacht?
Virginia am Fenster: Hell.
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Especially loved the Brecht reference.
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