A Ray Of Hope

It is the auspicious season in India starting with the holy month of Ashvin. It is a feel-good period where you are emotionally charged and feel the divine blessings being showered on you as each day passes by.

This period of Durga Puja was very special with my mother being there and carrying out the daily ritual of special puja during the auspicious nine days. With the morning Aarti after the puja, she would hand over the prasad and give us her blessings.

On the ninth day, we went to the Community Center in Faridabad to take the blessings of Goddess Durga. The beautiful idol of Goddess Durga putting an end to the evil Mahishasur was installed on a stage. The other idols placed alongside were of Goddess Lakshmi and Saraswati and of Lord Ganesha and Kartikeya. There were a group of four people including both men and women dancing to rhythmic drum beats. All of them held an incense burner on their right palms and performed the ritual arti dance.

If you are in Delhi during this time of the year, then you cannot miss the beautiful pandals stationed at Chittaranjan Park. I had never been there during Durga Puja, so we planned an hour’s drive there. It was extremely crowded and you could get the festive feeling everywhere. There was a huge fair in and around the area. The kids moving around with their families were completely thrilled with the different kind of toys being sold. There were different types of eateries along the roadside with mouth-watering specialities. The only drawback was the lack of parking space for cars. After a search for half an hour, we found an empty space. Thereafter we walked along with the crowd. We went from one pandal to another. Durga Ma looked gorgeous in each of them. Her eyes conveyed the power of perseverance and strength. A unique melange of infinite power and enthralling beauty.

A festival like this where you join hundreds of others of all caste and creed in a common place to seek blessings, you feel empowered. Such experiences instil a lot of hope and positivity in our minds.

One may belong to the upper class, the middle class, the lower class or extremely unfortunate class based on their economic level in the society. In the eyes of God, all of us are equally privileged to seek the blessings. There is no discrimination.

Our faith is the most powerful belief of the divine being the source of our very own existence.

As Dussehra symbolises victory against the evil, we as mortal beings should feel strengthened to combat all evils in our lives. It is true that it is easier said than done. However, it is also true that the humankind sometimes fails, sometimes struggles and sometimes succeeds but it never loses hope.

Our strong belief in the blessings from the almighty shadows such disbelief.