Yes, I agree it a silly tradition. So then what are gifts that we can give to others? Why not give happiness and joy to others? So then how would you give happiness and joy to others. Suppose you call your family and have a grumpy face they will wonder why did she call me. Thus the true joy is when you are smiling from your heart. So it’s not that you have to give sweets, I feel it’s very unfortunate that we have to give sweets when we can give much better things.
Problem is people are habituated in doing certain things in a certain way but as they grow, as they evolve they realise that this is not the best thing. May be we would just wish something from the heart, like saying “have a beautiful life.” instead of saying happy Diwali which actually means nothing. Because if you had to wish someone on Diwali what would you wish? Happy Diwali or Happy life? Now should one wish only on Diwali day or every day? of course you can wish everyday so then I feel there is no need of so much fuss and this compulsion to wish on festival days. I feel why wait for that day?
Every morning we should wish people, “have a beautiful life, have a beautiful day.” But instead we normally wish, “Hi”. What does hi mean? It means nothing except that I recognise you, so then rather wish someone have a beautiful day. Like in Pondicherry we say sometimes bonjour, Good morning. In Diwali I usually wish this that, “I wish you have a beautiful and luminous life ahead.” After all Diwali is about light over darkness, even if there is dense darkness.
The day Diwali is celebrated, its Amavasya and what is Amavasya? it’s about new moon, its a dense dark night, so what are trying to say by lighting the lamps? When we light lamps we are trying to say that even if there is total darkness, I still will light a lamp. I am not afraid of darkness; I still have hope.
Normally people are afraid of darkness or they just give sweets but this is the true message of Diwali and my personal request is to stop giving sweets as people get diabetes and please stop sweets on any occasions, lets change these traditions. Just give some lovely cards, nice flowers. If you really feel the need to give something, then make it with your own hands. By giving Sweets, it gives a feeling that he is really not interested in giving and he only wants to throw his money and show that he has given something.
But again if you have made the sweets with you own hands then that is love and to make it more special if you have made it as an offering to the Divine, then it becomes more special as it is prasad.
So when you give something you need to give with the joy in the heart and not with calculation. But when you make a conscious effort and give something isn’t it something more beautiful?
Affectionately,
Alok Da
