Happy Diwali!
Yes — Happy Diwali.
Go ahead,
Celebrate loud,
Light up the sky with fireworks,
Fill the streets with sound —
But don’t turn someone’s poverty
Into a punchline.
Brighten every corner
Of your home —
Candles, lamps, fairy lights —
Make it a festival of glow.
But don’t forget
To place a single lamp
In that house
Where sunlight never reaches,
Where walls still wait
For a touch of warmth
They’ve only heard stories of.
Feast well —
Laddoos, barfis, every sweet you love.
Feed your family, your friends.
But save a plate
For the one
Who’s only known
The taste of hunger.
If you meet someone
Eyes sunken in silence,
Drenched in disappointment —
Give them a smile,
Even just one.
Sometimes that’s enough
To hush a storm.
And if you find a house
Collapsed
Under the weight of hatred,
Build it again —
Not with bricks,
But with love.
From podiums and pulpits,
They planted thorns in our path,
Sowed riots in the name of gods,
Taught us to hate
In languages of caste and creed.
If you can,
Step away from those false gods.
Celebrate Diwali —
But stay human.
And to those travelers
Who lost their way
In the political heat,
Whose minds were scorched,
Whose hearts became deserts —
Be a tree.
Offer shade.
Let the rooftops gleam,
Let the thresholds shine,
But melt the ice
That’s settled deep
In people’s hearts.
And if
You can celebrate
A Diwali like that —
Then know this:
The light has finally
Found its way home.