Unfading Lights

The festival of Diwali is a beautiful festival. In India behind the obvious sound of crackers are small villages to big cities illuminated by lights of various kinds and lights are what Mr Prakash Chand particularly loved.



Mr Chand owned and lived in the ground floor of a three floored house. There was a single lane society road in front of the house. And next to it a lane of bushes and trees and preceding that was the main road, hence amidst the trees and bushes, Mr Chand’s residence could be seen although not clearly.



Mr Chand took his time to plan and decorate the outer wall with festive lights. He took out time to visit the market and select his purchases accordingly and before anyone else’s lights could be seen shining on Mr Chand’s residence. But it was not to show anyone else but for the peace and delight of his own mind, he felt a unique form of happiness driving back home from work and taking his time to slow down the car and look at his work.



Mr Chand’s lights shone from at least a week before the festival. But this time something occurred out of the blue in the form of a light rain in the middle of the week. No one really thought about it because it was a very rare occurrence and people almost forget that these lights are not very resistant to water.



Mr Chand stood outside, almost heartbroken at the sight of many strings of light no longer illuminating, the rain water had done its damage. He could not find the inspiration to set to work again and the extra expenditure was also a worry. His son rushed to the market to look for replacements but most of the usual lights had been sold out and the only ones remaining were the fancier and far more expensive ones, hence the return was empty handed.



On the last day of office before the holidays began, Mr Chand drove with the usual feeling that he carried on usual days. But there was a sense of positivity around hence it was impossible to not feel any form of joy but he was sure the lack of the lights he had to remove would affect that. On the main road as was the habit he glanced once at his house and he was delighted in a new form.



His wife had arranged a column of candles along the outer wall and lit them, and altogether they illuminated a beautiful sight and Mr Chand spent a lot of time walking in the compound during the festival, admiring the light from the candles lit in the late evening.

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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