Dance of Light and Dark - Sumonk

Well, it was the best Diwali of my life. Infact, most unforgettable. The happiness and joy I derived from being with the kids is inexplicable in words. It is one that needs to be felt and experienced.

SOCARE has 2 locations in Bangalore. Each location approximately has 35 kids. So we gathered all the kids at one location, i.e. the main location, in Rajaji Nagar. That morning I visited the kids and from my side, I have given them a complete Cricket set. I knew what it meant to own a cricket set and walk into the ground and show it off to other kids, fully armed. I wanted these kids to enjoy every bit of that feel, on the day of Diwali. It was a long pending gift, that I owe them. So I thought there was no other better day than Diwali to bring that glittering light in their beautiful faces, and it sure did.

We all went to the ground close by and had a wonderful game. Infact it had been a while I played. It was cool, we formed teams and had played the game. Hey I was clean Bowled by a 8 year old. Infact there is lot of talent, There 2 or 3 that could possibly be next Sachin or Dhoni :-) Later we came back, they had a feast and I had to leave, to meet some other commitments. By 4 PM we all assembled back at the main branch and by the time I stepped in, the kids have already lined up, to receive not just the boxes of crackers from Mr.Mani, but load and loads of serene and complete smiles from a divine human.

It was a treat to watch Mr.Mani pamper each kid, at the same time give them their dose of morals very specific to each kid. Mr.Mani says "I know each of them like my Palm". Yes, only that palm that carressed these kids for all these years knows and feels the snsations, of these great souls encompassed deep within these little bodies.
The kids responded very well to his love, Initially he wanted me to distribute them to a few kids, but I thought it would be nice to have his little session with the old man, before the bursting of crackers, that way, they would also get their little lesson on "Crackers 101 or Hello Cracker World".

Every kid took the boxes with pride and the boxes would go into a big sack, there is nothing like mine or yours, It is "Everyone's". That is the beauty of these kids, They do not have ownership of anything, they have dropped everything in their life. I mean, they were dropped, but after that, they have learnt to drop everything, live in the moment, No past, No future, Just enjoy that moment. Each of them like a little Angel, who would bring joy into lives of people around, their smiles were enough, no need of DHiyas, No need of candles, No need of flower pots. Each of them had million watts of light coming from their cheerful ever blossoming faces. Many people told me as I was heading to the kids "Suman, you are gonna bring light into so many lives, you are doing something wonderful today", But unfortunate are all those. who could not be with these lamps of love. It was infact, these little ones, who brought light into my life. I owe them big time.

Then they were all given the little Gun reel tapakis. They started their bursting, with a nice appetizing rolls of these red gun powder, rolled paper boxes. Well, these rolls now come in nice plastic boxes. I remember as a kid, they uses to come as small paper boxes and next day you collect those and show it off to friends as a sign of how many rolls you have shot. But these kids, used stones, used sticks and their own little fingers. They took pride in whatever they have used. The girls took pride by doing it with their little fingers and bursting them.

Then came the time for the main course. It started with the sur sur batthis. It was a treat to watch their teacher and care taker, Mr.Mohan very diligently and sensibly taking charge of the whole situation. There was no tug of war, no possession, no words from kids like "My crackers, My flower pot". It was a great lesson of sharing, every one could learn from them. Every kid would yield to the other one, every kid wants the other one to have fun, every one lets the other one to light a lamp, a cracker, a flower pot, a fire cracker, a ground chakra, a rocket, a pencil, an atom bomb. No confusion, no chaos, no clutter, no burning hands, no burning clothes.

It is the same old simple house, with a small gate, we all lived in, when we grew up, those gates accommodated one family, at the most a guest or two.
But these gates of this heaven, had very big hearts, very broad smiles, that only made the space in front of the house grow big and big. Initial plan was to go to the ground to burst the crackers, but though last minute change disappointed a few older kids, they were happy to continue with the same spirit and made the street itself looks like a huge stadium, and the little kids who are too small to handle the crackers decorated the first floor balcony, the privileged spectators from the Box, cheering the older ones to make it big. Team spirit, Wish we adults carry this spirit all the life, just by being part of the big show, by being spectators.

No Egos, No Losses. The constraints are all in hearts, not in space, not in time, It is all deep in the souls, it depends on how much you can stretch the soul and Mr.Mani is a perfect example of this gesture, If not for him, this home would have had 2 of his kids, at most, a few grand kids of Mrs and Mr.Mani.
But today he has 70 of his grand kids celebrating it with so much joy. My eyes were moist as the galore of these smiles, screams and bursting filled the air.

The dessert was served finally in the form of "Snake charmers", The black tablets/pellets, you light them and the snake comes out of it. As a kid, I remember, I used to think that a smart charmer had some how managed to coil the whole serpent in to this small box and the moment you light it, the snake coils out to to bite you, it does not know any direction, no set path and you wait for it to keep going, It would go forever, what a magic charm. It is a perfect climax, full of twists and turns that a snake would have. Adding to that, bidding a good bye to the Lights with the black smoke they generate. Wow! Darker side of a Light, Light and Dark dancing together. Isn't Diwali all about that, Dance of Light and Dark. The glitter of Light hand in hand with the silence of Darkness.

All this watching through the lenses of my camera and also through my native eyes. I did not have to touch a cracker, a lamp, a fire, but they have become part of my soul that evening. And all this to end, with a wonderful group photograph of all the kids.

As I drove back home, I carried the best ever moments of life enriching my soul to meet the origin, the Universal spirit, that connects all of us. It does not have to be just on a day of Diwali, we could be part of this journey every day, every moment. We have one life time to live, Live it with others, for others who are in need of a warm soul. Who are they, Who am I, Who is Mr.Mani, Just reminds me that we all come from same place and go back to the same place..............