In the evenings I love sitting under my peepul tree and watching the darkness through the leaves. There is something soothing about that slow merging of light and night, as if the day is saying a polite goodbye. In the last few days, that same darkness is being threatened by bursts of light. Sparklers and fireworks fill the sky, spreading their colours so beautifully that for a brief while, even the moon seems to watch in admiration. Then, slowly, the brilliance fades, and the sky becomes dark again.

But Diwali is not about that fading moment. It is about the triumph of light over darkness, of good over evil. And I often wonder if we have truly understood what that means. Because while we decorate our balconies with glittering lamps and our courtyards with rows of diyas, there are corners of our hearts, and of our nation, that remain unlit.

Light is truth. It reveals what lies hidden, what we sometimes prefer not to see. It is uncomfortable, even blinding at times. But it is only when the light shines on injustice, on the suffering of the poor, or on the silence of the powerful, that it fulfils its purpose. The darkness we must conquer today is not just the night outside our windows, but the one that lurks in our silence when we see wrong and do not speak.

Every little lamp we light this Diwali should remind us that light has meaning only when it pushes back against the dark. The sky above my peepul tree glows for a few seconds when the fireworks explode, but true light is not a spectacle. It is quiet, steady, and unwavering, like the morning sun that does not fade when the night protests.

When the brave shine light on corruption, or when a lone voice exposes cruelty, they too are celebrating Diwali — not with crackers, but with courage. We must not let the darkness of indifference creep back once the festival is over. The lamps in our homes must ignite lamps in our minds.

I sometimes think of my little grandchildren who, when there is a power cut, hold up their small battery torches and giggle, “Look, Grandpa, we can make the dark run away!” Maybe that is what God wants from us — to make the dark run away. Not for a moment, not for a night, but for good.

So as you light your diya tonight, whisper a prayer that the glow you see outside enters your heart. Let it stay after the fireworks have died down, after the sweets are gone, and after the noise has ended. Because the real Diwali, is when light does not end with celebration, but begins with conviction — that darkness, in any form, shall never win again…!

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