In an episode of the American version of The Office, Michael Scott taught us all various things about Diwali, the festival of lights, through his tribute to Adam Sandler. I have always had a love-hate relationship with Diwali, which is strange because whoever heard of anyone having a love-hate relationship with festivals? Aside from American TV shows such as Friends or Brooklyn 99, of course, where the characters had sad, first-world childhoods, which gave them the license to hate Thanksgiving, the most made-up, criminal holiday of them all, and just be general pricks to everyone.
This post has taken a very different turn. Apologies. We'll talk about white supremacy some other time.
For Sikhs like myself, Diwali is not technically Diwali. It is Bandi Chhor Divas, or the festival to celebrate the release of the prisoners. I know, it sounds eerily appropriate for the current circumstances. As I write, thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are rotting in Israeli jails and hundreds of Israeli hostages are under Hamas control somewhere in the tunnels of Gaza. It is a dire situation, to say the least. And now we are celebrating the release of prisoners, or Bandis.
According to Sikh legend, Guru Hargobind Singh escaped prison along with 52 other innocent Kings, all of whom had been captured by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. All the Bandis were released and somehow it coincided with the Hindu festival of Diwali.
Hindu mythology, on the other hand, tells us that King Ram and his wife Queen Sita, served a fourteen-year period of life in isolation because Ram's mother was just the worst mother-in-law imaginable. Despite all odds, Ram and Sita triumphed over evil in the form of Lord Ravana and returned to their homes. The locals then lit the entire town up and gave rise to the fireworks tradition that would ultimately lead to GHG emissions. To be fair to them, however, they probably could not have predicted the emergence of fossil fuels. Also this entire story is part of Hindu mythology and not 100% real.
Whether you celebrate the return of the King and Queen of Far, Far Away (I kid, of course- I don't know where Ram and Sita were the King and Queen of), or whether you celebrate Guru Hargobind Singh and the 52 innocent Kings, the prime tenet of the story of this festival is of the victory of good over evil.
Now, more than ever, we need good to triumph over evil. Now, more than ever, we need to forget about the politics of war and start thinking about the innocent civilians who die everyday, not just on days that the media choose to cover. Let us pray and hope that good triumphs over evil somehow, and those who deserve victory find themselves at the foothills of a lifetime of prosperity.
Happy Diwali and Happy Bandi Chhor Divas to everyone.