Diwali
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Such are the qualities we need to invoke during Diwali in order to enrich our lives, as without them no amount of material wealth can bring us happiness. | Such are the qualities we need to invoke during Diwali in order to enrich our lives, as without them no amount of material wealth can bring us happiness. | ||
| + | =Fires, burn cases on and before Diwali= | ||
| + | ==2015, Delhi: 400 cases, highest in 10 years== | ||
| + | [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=400-cases-in-36-hours-city-has-most-13112015002022 ''The Times of India''], Nov 13 2015 | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''400 cases in 36 hours, city has most fires in 10 yrs''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | Around 400 fires were reported from the capital in the last 36 hours, making it the highest in the past 10 years. | ||
| + | Officials said 290 fire-related incidents occurred on Diwali. However, no deaths or major injuries were reported. | ||
| + | The fire department deployed fire tenders at 20 vulnerable spots, including congested areas and key markets. | ||
| + | Around 1,800 personnel out of the department's strength of 3,000 were on duty, while 175 to 180 fire engines were deployed. Officials said most cases were reported from 9pm on Diwali till the next morning. | ||
| + | In 2015 the department attended to 220 calls while in 2014, they had responded to 75 calls . | ||
=Sivakasi= | =Sivakasi= | ||
Revision as of 14:23, 20 November 2015
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Inner cleansing and light
The Times of India, November 11, 2015
B K Brijmohan
Diwali celebrates inner cleansing and light
Diwali, which falls on the darkest new moon night of the month of Kartik in the Hindu calendar, celebrates light and knowledge that comes from inner cleansing. The festival is celebrated by people of various faiths, but for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, it commemorates special events that symbolise the triumph of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.
Before Diwali, people clean or decorate their homes and workplaces.On Diwali night, they light oil lamps or candles in their homes and offer prayers, usually invoking Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.
These practices have become ritualised over time, but they have deep spiritual significance, related to the renewal and rejuvenation of the human soul in its journey through time.
The cleaning done prior to Diwali is an expression of the cleansing that the soul needs to undergo in order to hold the wealth of wisdom and virtues that God grants it. It is said that Goddess Lakshmi avoids places that are not clean, so people discard disused items lying around their homes and make sure that every corner of their dwelling is clean before Diwali.
While it may be possible to hoard material wealth in a grimy home, the real wealth of the soul, which is spiritual awareness, purity and contentment, cannot be sustained in an impure mind.
A person whose mind is fouled by vices will have no inclination to seek wisdom or cultivate the finer qualities that divinise humans. Even if such a person is given spiritual knowledge, he will not retain it for long, and will shed it just as soiled cloth repels water instead of absorbing it. The cleaner the mind, the more one is attracted to all that is good and noble, and it is such a mind that seeks enlightenment. The multifarious lights that illumine homes during Diwali are a symbol of the human yearning for the light of true knowledge.
Just as darkness inspires fear and causes sorrow in the form of mishaps, ignorance of one's true identity leads to all human suffering, as bodyconsciousness gives rise to vices such as lust, anger, attachment and ego, which corrupt our thoughts and actions.
There is something beyond the physical body and mind, which is pure and eternal, called the soul. The celebration of Diwali refers to the light of this higher knowledge, dispelling the darkness of ignorance which masks one's true identity as an immortal, immanent being.
Happiness is the fruit of tions, which in turn flow from good actions, which in turn flow from pure thoughts and feelings. Noble thinking will come naturally to us only if we have cleansed the mind and culti vated virtues such as love, kindness, purity and truth which enrich human life and bring joy to relationships.
The deities worshipped during Diwali are symbolic representations of virtues.Goddess Lakshmi, the deity most commonly associated with the festival, is shown seated on a lotus flower, holding a lotus blossom each in two of her four arms, while one palm is raised in blessing and another showers gold coins. The lotus is a symbol of purity , as the flower remains untouched by the mud in which it blooms. The blessings and gold signify generosity and abundance.
Such are the qualities we need to invoke during Diwali in order to enrich our lives, as without them no amount of material wealth can bring us happiness.
Fires, burn cases on and before Diwali
2015, Delhi: 400 cases, highest in 10 years
The Times of India, Nov 13 2015
400 cases in 36 hours, city has most fires in 10 yrs
Around 400 fires were reported from the capital in the last 36 hours, making it the highest in the past 10 years. Officials said 290 fire-related incidents occurred on Diwali. However, no deaths or major injuries were reported. The fire department deployed fire tenders at 20 vulnerable spots, including congested areas and key markets. Around 1,800 personnel out of the department's strength of 3,000 were on duty, while 175 to 180 fire engines were deployed. Officials said most cases were reported from 9pm on Diwali till the next morning. In 2015 the department attended to 220 calls while in 2014, they had responded to 75 calls .
Sivakasi
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Town in the Sattur taluk of Tinnevelly District, Madras, situated in 9° 27' N. and 17° 48' E., 12 miles from Sattur, and midway between that town and Srivilliputtur. It is a Union, with a population (1901) of 13,021. Many of the Shanan merchants are well-to-do, their trade being chiefly in tobacco, cotton, and jaggery (coarse sugar). Sivakasi was the scene of the outbreak of the disturbances of 1899, which arose out of a dispute as to the right of the Shanans to enter the local temple. Several lives were lost in these riots, and a punitive police force of 100 men under a special Assistant Superintendent is now stationed in the town.
Firecrackers and the law
They have no religious sanctity: Delhi HC
The Times of India, Nov 07 2015
Abhinav Garg
HC says crackers as bad as explosives
They have no religious sanctity; limit availability to make ban effective
Citing spiralling levels of pollution in the city, the Delhi high court on Thursday backed a “public outcry“ against bursting of firecrackers. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw observed crackers were no less dangerous than other explosives and their availability should be restricted. “Owing to less stringent control on use, firecrackers are available far more easily than arms and are rampantly used,“ the court observed.
It said that over the years this had resulted in incidents of fire and injury on Diwali that were only going up. Now hospitals have to gear up for the onslaught and be in a state of preparedness, especially on Diwali night, it pointed out.
“Certainly , no one can claim a right to burst firecrackers at the cost of injury to another,“ the court observed, rejecting a woman's plea for a temporary licence to sell crackers in her shop. It was hearing a challenge to Delhi Police commissioner's refusal to grant a temporary licence to one Manisha Sharma for sale of firecrackers.
The HC also pointed out that bursting of firecrackers doesn't have any religious sanctity. Instead, it adversely affects the environment and causes various ailments. “Diwali, though called a festival of lights, has religious context only in illuminating the buildings traditionally with diyas, which over a period of time got substituted with candles.There is nothing to suggest that bursting of firecrackers is related to any religious tenet,“ the court noted. “Firecrackers clearly fall under the Explosives Act 1884 and are hazardous in nature.They emanate sound and foul gases and fine particles,“ the court added.
It pointed out that the Supreme Court has restricted the number of hours during which firecrackers can be burst on Diwali but it remained more on paper because of difficulties in enforcement. “The only way of enforcement is to limit the availability of firecrackers in the city,“ Justice Endlaw said, adding, “I am of the view that it is not in public interest for this court to direct the authorities concerned to grant a temporary licence to sell firecrackers when the authorities have refused the same to the petitioner.“
The court also observed people of Delhi lived mostly in multi-storeyed buildings with no open spaces to burst firecrackers, running the risk of these crackers exploding in a neighbour's house. “Due to this, several countries have prohibited bursting of crackers within the city and earmarked open spaces, particularly waterfronts for this,“ the judge said.
“Delhi today is severely impacted environmentally , with newspapers reporting the air quality to have attained dangerous standards, severely affecting breathing of citizens, owing to burning of paddy in agricultural lands in neighbouring states. Cases of breathing ailments are on the rise and frequently becoming fatal. This was unheard of in earlier times when the practice of bursting crackers as an expression of joy may have commenced,“ Justice Endlaw said.
