Diwali by a Dilwala, the Big Hearted

Newspaper sheets were neatly being spread on the terrace out in the bright sun. Firecrackers to be burnt on the Diwali night was being spread out on the newspaper to get the last heat of the sun to remove any dampness before being lighted. Debojyoti or Dev was busy with his firecrackers. He was very enthusiastic about it.. The firecrackers were bought for him by his beloved uncle Nikhil. Every year it was the same thing. Nikhil was very passionate about his nephew. 

The housemaid Kaveri seeing Dev's enthusiasm couldn't keep quiet. She asked, 'Dev babu my son is expecting crackers from you. Will you give him some,?' To which Dev replied, 'Why not, I will be very glad to share with him some of my crackers,' rejoined Dev. Kaveri had a son roughly the same age of eleven years same as Dev. 

Dev's mother, Protima hearing what Kaveri had said, supported her son saying that Dev would go with his uncle Nikhil and distribute the crackers. Diwali was a time of happiness and joy. Dev liked listening to stories about Diwali from his mother. 

Some of the popular stories which Dev had listened to and liked. The Diwali is the festival of lights where darkness is overcome by the power of lights. This is a festival for celebrating the homecoming of Lord Rama to his Kingdom Ayodhya after defeating Ravana. And this was done by lighting dias or lamps. In North India Lord Rama's homecoming is celebrated. Southern India celebrates it as a day when Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. 

Diwali the festival of lights, is celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world. Diwali, which for some also coincides with harvest and new year celebrations, is a festival of new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil, and light over darkness.

The message of Diwali is to remove darkness to bring light in our life. On this day, people light diyas and lamps to remove darkness of the night but we forget to remove the darkness of our soul. the real message of diwali is to dispel the inner darkness which has engulfed us for thousands of life times.

For Sikhs, Diwali is particularly important because it celebrates the release from prison of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, and 52 other princes with him, in 1619. ... Sikhs celebrated the return of Guru Hargobind by lighting the Golden Temple and this tradition continues today.

Each year Jains light lamps on Diwali to symbolize keeping the light of Lord Mahavir's knowledge alive and sweets are distributed in celebration of his contributions. Many Jains celebrate Diwali by fasting, singing hymns and chanting mantras to honor Lord Mahavir, while others participate in charity and philanthropy.

Every year during Diwali Dev used to hear these stories from his mother. Without hearing these stories his Diwali would remain incomplete. 

A few days before the festival Dev went to the Gobindopur bustee where Kaveri lived. The family driver Bhola also stayed there so he drove Dev and his uncle Nikhil in their car. Kaveri's son Kesto was very happy to see Dev. They both were childhood friends. Every year Kaveri used to bring the firecrackers from Dev. This time Dev has himself come to gift him so Kesto was very happy. To him, Dev was Dilwala, the Big Hearted. 

When Kesto was receiving the firecrackers, a small boy had come from behind and was tugging at Dev's shirt. He was trying to draw his attention to something. Dev then followed the little boy and came to a small hut with asbestos sheeted roof. The door was locked from outside and there were many children inside. The boy asked Dev to also give them firecrackers. 

Dev was surprised to see the state of the children. They were held captive. Somebody was holding them under lock and key. He had lot of questions on his mind. Why were these kids being held as prisoners. Uncle Nikhil and the driver Bhola were talking at a little distance, so he couldn't draw their attention immediately. 

Dev asked Kesto about the captive children. Kesto said that they were always held there by a group of people but no one in the bustee said anything. Dev drew his uncle Nikhil 's attention. Nikhil also felt awkward seeing the state of the captive children. 

Nikhil had a friend in the Police. He directly called him up and narrated what he saw. His friend told him to wait until he came there. In a little while Nikhil saw his friend who had come with a force. After making discreet enquiries when no one responded they broke open the lock and freed the children. 

The children were visibly shaken. They wore an unhealthy look. Their clothes looked weathered and dirty. The Police questioned them but they seemed to be in fear and did not utter a single word. 

An NGO was given the task of taking care of the children and find out the whereabouts of their home. 

All this took quite a lot of time. When they had come to the bustee it was just evening. Now it was well into the night. After having ensured proper caring and the arrangement of the future of the children, did Nikhil and Dev feel free to return home. 

They moved towards their car. Bhola was ahead. Then Bhola just stopped in his steps. He was too startled to say a thing. All the tyres of the wheels were deflated and someone had done mischief. Nikhil said that it must have been the work of someone who was working with the captors of the children. 

Unable to start the car, Nikhil and Dev hired a taxi and left Bhola to manage the repair work. Their taxi was racing towards their house when all of a sudden a van from the opposite direction grazed the taxi at high speed. The taxi lost control and was about to hit a light post when the driver with presence of mind managed to push hard on the brakes. Just a sniffing distance from the post the taxi grinded to a halt. Fortunately nobody was hurt and the car had also just grazed scratches. But the impact left every body shaken. Dev had all his winds blown over. Nikhil was also dazed. 

A police constable came over to ensure the safety of the occupants and to report the incident to his beat office. A patrol car making vigil in the neighbourhood stopped by. The taxi driver was asked to report to the local police station and inform the incident. The patrol car took Nikhil and Dev also to the police station. A case of rash driving was registered and the technical team was entrusted to scan the cctv footage from the posts on the road side to find out the rogue vehicle. 

Later on Nikhil and Dev were dropped off at their home. Bhola had by the time had done the repairs and driven home their car. Dev's mother had been very worried till then. But on seeing both Nikhil and Dev safe and sound she was very relieved. 

From the images in the cctv footage the van had been identified. The Police came to meet Nikhil and Dev and asked them to be extra cautious for the next few days till the Police made arrests of the culprits. Because they could play foul and harass Nikhil and Dev. A Police picket was put up outside their house for extra precaution. 

Meanwhile the NGO entrusted with the responsibility of the care of the released children had gathered some information from making inquiries amongst the children. The children had been very maltreated when they were held captive. They were not given proper food and most of the time left hungry. They were being trained to do begging and according to their capabilities were being trained to pick pockets and do petty theft and felony. It was a clear case of child trafficking. All of the children had come from very poor households. The NGO wanted the children to go back to their families because every child has the right to grow up in familial conditions. But some of the their family were not very eager to take them back because of the abject poverty and pathetic living conditions. To feed extra mouth was seemingly impossible. 

The Police had made the breakthrough within a few days and all the culprits were caught. 

Dev was happy that the shaitans or the scoundrels who had dealt with so much cruelty to the children were finally behind bars. Still, there was a day left for Diwali. The victory of good over evil had once again taken place. The festival of lights had now a more beautiful meaning for Dev. The lights of Diwali would light up the whole world and bring happiness and drive away sorrow. Dev was praying and hoping that someday this festival of lights would remove all darkness from the lives of all the unfortunate people in the world. The children should get a holistic opportunity for happiness and personal growth.