Deepavali in Tooting

Om asato ma sadgamaya,
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya,
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya.

Lead us from falsehood to truth; from Darkness to light; from Death to immortality and from Lethargy to Activity.

Contribution by Swami Dikshananda Saraswati

Tonight, half the neighbourhood seemed to be celebrating Diwali. I became used to the sounds of firecrackers as a little girl in Durban, where the festival is also celebrated. My earliest memory of this festival, is going to a friend's house to find it bedecked in lanterns, fairy lights and small flower-shaped candles floating on the fish pond. I remember thinking it was too early for Christmas, but enjoyed eating the home-made sweets and watching the various shrines decorated in flowers and incense. I remember hearing the names of the Hindu deities and finding them beautiful: Lakshmi, Durga, Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Mati Shakti and many more. I would sometimes string all the names together to try and emulate my friends that spoke Hindi, simply because I loved the sound.

Part of what makes an urban landscape beautiful, is diversity. Festivals, especially one as cheerful as a festival of light, lend a warmth to an otherwise hostile environment. It is not the only thing that makes a city bearable, by any means, but it gives a certain charm and familiarity to a place.

Something I do appreciate about living in a city, is light. It's true that the overabundance of light blocks out our view of the heavens, which is perhaps why we've tried to mirror the heavens with our zealous lighting of buildings, bridges and landmarks. However, light is something magical and it seems to transform even very ugly things. By day somewhere like Canary Wharf is something of an eyesore; glass and steel reflecting a heavy grey sky. By night, lit up by lights that refract off the glass and play on the waters of the Thames, it seems enchanting.

Likewise with Embankment, Bankside and South Bank. These places are just lovely at night. Sometimes, walking back from the Royal National Theatre, I'm reminded of what a beautiful city London can be and how the grotty Thames, so muddy and depressing in the daylight hours, seems calmed and soothed in the moonlight.

Now that I've finished writing this post, it's started to rain. The fireworks have ceased and the night is still. I can still smell a hint of sulphur on the air and the hear the odd Catherine Wheel, perhaps lit by some determined child unwilling to give in to the elements. I'll go through my own flat now, turning off all the lights and perhaps light some candles in the bath ^^