The lights of Soho Road Handsworth (Birmingham), Belgrave Road (Leicester), Southall Broadway and Ealing Road (Wembley) are lit - and the weekend’s festivities are about to begin. For many like the Route 79 posse - it’s a great excuse for families to get together to remind each other that we still exist. Also - for many - it’s a great excuse to set off annoyingly loud fireworks. (You see: it is a tradition in recent years amongst obscenely materialistic Indians in London - that the wealthier you are - the louder, more elaborate and expensive your fireworks are.)

Taken from the front of the upper deck of my bus earlier this evening: here is a shot of the Diwali street-lighting decorating Ealing Road in Wembley (North West London) - which is the path of my beloved Route 79 bus journey home. (Click on the pic for an interesting effect.)

The term “Diwali” is a corrupted version of the word “Deepavali” - which in Sanskrit literally means “a row of lamps”. One of the amazing things about the Diwali celebration is how (for Indians at least) it carries a significance that transcends most of India’s communities and religions.

For Hindu peoples - it is a five-day celebration that, on the third day, involves worship to the Goddess Lakshmi - for blessings of prosperity and wealth as well as the triumphs of good over evil and light over darkness. Hence the term “festival of lights”. (Although Hindu mythology refers to Diwali as the commemoration of the return of Ram (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and the eldest son of King Dasharath of Ayodhya, from a 14-year exile with Sita and Lakshman after killing the Ravan, a demon king. The people of Ayodhya illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and fireworks to celebrate the return of their king.)

For Sikh peoples - Diwali is celebrated as the return of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji from captivity (along with 52 other Hindu Kings released on the same day by Moghul Emperor Jahangir at the Guru’s insistence) to his home town of Amritsar. The townspeople of Amritsar lighted up the way to Harmandhir Sahib (the Golden Temple) in his honour. (By coincidence - it happens that way before this event - Diwali is the day that foundation stone of the Golden Temple was laid - in 1577.)

For Jain peoples - Diwali is the most important festival - celebrating the Nirvana of Lord Mahavira who established the dharma as followed today. In fact - the word “Dipavali” first written in Jain holy texts. It was composed in Shaka Samvat 705. Thus people in Bharata (India) every year celebrate the famous “Dipalikaya”, to respectfully worship the Jinendra on the occasion of his Nirvana. Diwali is not mentioned in Valmiki’s Ramayana, Mahabharata, brahmanical Puranas or in Tulsidas’s Ram-charit-manas. So, it is most probably that Diwali is predominantly a Jain custom, which was Indianised later on and therefore celebrated by almost every Indian.

Anyway - no matter who you are and where you are from - a Happy Diwali to you all!