The Diwali That Lighted Up My Life

Ah! Finally it was there - Diwali. And i was excited about it more than anyother year. Because my celebrations would'nt just end with Diwali. It would continue even after that when i would go for vacations to my aunt's place in Chicago just for chilling. So i got up early that day, ready for shopping that i had been planning for the last two weeks.

Ther were sales going on everywhere but because i wanted the best of evrything this year, i went to The Indera's, one of the best showrooms in town. But as i reached there ,i found garbage littered all around the street and was filled with disgust at the sight. I entered the air-conditioned showroom and heaved a great sigh. But it was atest of my patience when they asked me to wait for a while as it was all crowded. It would have been difficult had it not been for the man outside the showroom.

He was in his mid-50s, not at all handsome, nor was he wearing good clothes, rather he was scarcely dressed in all torn clothes and wearing two different slippers in each foot. But there was something peculiar, something strangein his expression and his body language which attracted my attention. The way he was holding his bag, which i supposed was filled with the same kind of rags that he was wearing, surprised me. He held them as if they were more than any thing to him in the world. He was staring at the showroom much before i found him, and his eyes told me that he was not eyeing the people coming out of the showroom with bags full of branded clothes, with greed, but with sarcasm.

Suddenly something happened which changed my way of living life forever. The man got pushed by a car that was passing by him. He fell, along with his bag and all the things came out of it. I was shocked and ashamed at the same time by what he did. Instead of reacting anything to the driver of the car, he silently picked up each and everything that had fallen down - a couple of ragged clothes, few packets which had pieces of bread and other eatables in small quantity, and another pair of wrongly matched shoes -- his world had shattered over the place and he was putting it all toghether in despair.

And what was i doing? Going to buy clothes even after having a cupboard full of them? And was going to eat a six coarse meal after my shopping was done? I bought a pair of trousers and a shirt and gave it to the man as diwali gift, and gave him some money too, and went home empty-handed but with lessons that would last for a lifetime.

On the day of Diwali, i wore a dress which kept hanging all the time for three years just because i did'nt like its color. And canclled the trip to Chicago and donated half the money to a NGO. My friend said i had gone crazy cancelling the trip but then, it would take them many Diwalis to have the wisdom that i had now.