Fleeing Reality During A Festival Of Colorful Lights

Independent Film Maker and Photographer Ritam Talukdar is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. To follow Ritam’s photo journeys click on any image.

The old heritage buildings of Pune are brightly lit up with floating nightshades. Even the deprived ones have fascination towards decorating their living spaces and verandas.

Diwali: The Hindu Festival of Lights

Proceed into any home of Hindu during the time of October and you’ll surely be welcomed with a fleet of colorful lights, lit at the porch, flickering in the gentle wind, sending morse-code like messages of celebrations to everyone around. Symbolically light represents all the good and virtuous things, getting rid of all the darkness around the world. But as a human race, it will only have its meaning if at all it is used against some bigger evils like getting rid of poverty, child labor, women empowerment etc.

The lanes of Kolkata are brightly lit up with hanging lights and flamboyant display of glittering hopes.

Within the kaleidoscopic blanket of lights and colorful array of flamboyant display, the existence of some of the people surely has its meanings. When the hopes of them are all hiding its mere statement within the lines of poverty, the festival of bright colors brings a shine of blazing hue into their darkest desires. With the carnival marking the advent of winter, we only see the colorful and painted faces of the children, setting up the worried spaces with gestures of laughter. The struggling heroes are seen smiling amidst all the hardships and daily struggles, that they have to fight with, despite all the efforts in seeking a balanced opinion.

Floating candles or Fanush brightly lights up the night sky.

A child celebrates the Diwali with his father, along with crackers.

Light and dark are the matters of our relative perceptions and one cannot survive without the existence of the other. On a socio-political level we merely categorize ourselves into groups, considerably favorable than the others. Some are favored on all levels and others remain unfavorable even though this festival spreads the panorama of existence with all its variation, to let the light of diversity dispel the darkness that arises from the one way absolutist thinking. So, let them live for one more day and let them dream for another hour, before they succumb to the same old situation, with a less harmonious way of living.