Happy Diwali, 2024!

🌟✴️✴️Happy Diwali, 2024, everyone!

Warning: Read ahead only at own peril :) Annual outpouring follows,😜

The festival of lights is here again

The mood to cheer is not kickstarting the brain. 

Somehow the old woes still remain

Somehow all my thoughts reel out a tired old refrain. 

Not pollution, not more artificial lights, 

Let us evolve, seek inward true delights. 

Realization of ourselves and the cosmos, 

Harmonizing with nature and thoughts foremost. 

Being generous to others but also oneself, 

Digging deep to find meaning not scrolling through the internet or from books off a shelf. 

Reflecting, communing, creating, finding peace, 

Shredding, cleansing, rejuvenating, our awareness, we increase, 

That's light that lit up the darkest of days and nights,

The Amavas of ignorance resides in us, we need be our own guiding light.

- Written on 31 October 2024.

- Diwali day. Self-explanatory. Also on FB and IG. 

An अनमोल Ratan

Death comes, life goes. 

We grieve, we express our woes. 

A bright light extinguished, the world might seem darker. 

But the many more lights he enabled, we need remember. 

An example of humility, wit and grace. 

An example of how humanity we can raise. 

A doer, a thinker and a feeler, a rare combination. 

The legacy he left behind beyond any commemoration.

We mourn his loss, but he would have said, 

Strive for everyone's betterment, forge ahead.

Development for all, a vision dear. 

Perseverance against odds even if seemingly defeat near. 

Quietly working for India's pride, 

He has taught us how economics need not be our only guide. 

The world is one and all are equal:

The legacy by JRD, Ratan carried forward in a seamless sequel. 

He lives on through his words, his actions.

He lives on in so many hearts and minds that for him know no factions.

He truly united us all across castes, genders, religions, classes and nationalities,

His 'opponents' admire him, that's how mighty his creed.

Yes, today, a light extinguished and we grieve. 

But his legacy is everlasting, which we need celebrate and strive to his vision achieve.

- Written on 10 October 2024.

- Ratan Tata passed away on 09 October 2024. 

Note: 

Some public losses feel very, very personal.

I work at a Centre within an Institute that is a legacy of Tatas and on a project that continues that Mr Ratan Tata was directly involved in during the initial phase.

Posted on FB and LI.