The first day of Diwali is called Dhanvantari Triodasi or Dhanwantari Triodasi also called Dhan Theras. The second day of Diwali is called Narak Chaturdasi. It is the fourteenth lunar day (thithi) of the dark forthnight of the month of Kartik and the eve of Diwali. On this day Lord Krishna destroyed the demon Narakasur and made the world free from fear. The third day of Diwali is the actual Diwali. This is the day when worship for Mother Lakshmi is performed. On the fourth day of Diwali, Goverdhan Pooja is performed. The fifth day of the diwali is called Bhratri Dooj. It is a day dedicated to sisters.

Deepavali, the literal meaning of which in Sanskrit is 'a row of lamps.' Filling little clay lamps with oil and wick and lighting them in rows all over the house is a tradition that is popular in most regions of the country. Even today in this modern world it projects the rich and glorious past of our country and teaches us to uphold the true values of life. It is associated with many customs and traditions. Diwali has many legends and religious accounts to it. Lights and diyas are lit to signifying the driving away of darkness and ignorance, as well as the awakening of the light within ourselves. Diwali is a time for family gatherings, food, celebration and pooja. The goddess Laxmi plays a major role in this festival, as do Ram and Sita. This autumn festival is celebrated for five continuous days, of which each one has its own significance. Houses and Corporate offices are renovated and decorated, entrances are made colorful with lovely traditional motifs of Rangoli designs to welcome Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. To indicate her long awaited arrival, small footprints are drawn with rice flour and vermilion powder (kumkum) all over the houses. Lamps are kept burning all through the nights. The house is kept clean and rangoli is drawn at the doorstep to welcome Goddess Laxmi. For the best time for puja, a pandit is consulted. The general things needed for a diwali puja are silver and gold coins, suparis, uncooked Rice, paan leaves, kumkum for applying tilak, mithaai (Indian sweets), camphor, agarbattis (incense sticks), dry fruit (almonds, cashews), flower petals and Lakshmi-Ganesh icon. Deepavali Pooja is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of clay are lit to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. Bhajans are sung in praise of the goddess and sweets are offered to her. Deepavali Puja consists of a combined pooja of five deities: Ganesha is worshipped at the beginning of every auspicious act as Vighnaharta; Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in her three forms Mahalakshmi, the goddess of wealth and money, Mahasaraswati, the goddess of books and learning and Mahakali. Kuber, the treasurer of the gods is also worshipped.

Rangoli is a Hindu folk art, generally created on a floor on special festive occasions. The origin of this art can be traced to the Puranas (works on hindu mythology). Simply put, Rangoli means a row of colors. The tradition of Rangoli originated in Maharastra and slowly disseminated to other parts of India. Origin Rangoli, also known as Kolam in South India, Chowkpurana in Northern India, Madana in Rajasthan, Aripana in Bihar, Alpana in Bengal is the ancient Hindu religious floor art. According to a legend recorded in Chitra Lakshana, the earliest treatise on Indian painting, a king and his kingdom were steeped in sorrow at the death of the high priest's son. Everybody prayed to Lord Brahma, who moved by the prayers, asked the king to paint a portrait of the boy on the floor so that he could breathe life into it. And with that the art of floor painting came to life. And that is how rice, flour and flowers were transformed into picturesque offerings to God in the form of floor painting.

Most accidents involving fireworks occur as a result of carelessness, negligence and ignorance. But these can certainly be avoided by observing some very simple precautions. All of us enjoy the pleasure of light and sound but when disaster strikes the injured has to bear the cross. If you're going to set off fireworks at home this year, please take a few minutes to read through the guidelines. The earthen lamps that we light on Diwali night are generally placed on balcony and window ledges. So ensure that these are not near any flammable material like wood, cloth or paper. Usually, decorative lights are used on special occasions only and as such not much care is given to one's life. The electric lights should never be tied to any metal poles as any electrical leak can energize the pole and give a shock to anyone who touches the pole.

Use fireworks only outdoors.
Buy fireworks from authorized/reputed manufacturers only.
Light them one at a time, by one person. Others should watch from a safe distance. Keep the fireworks to be used at a safe place.
Organize a community display of fireworks rather than multiple individuals handling crackers.
Always use a long candle/'phooljhari' for igniting fire crackers and keep elbow joint straight to increase the distance between the body and the crackers.
Keep two buckets of water handy. In the event of fire, extinguish flame by pouring water from the buckets. Every major fire is small when it starts.
In case of burns, pour large quantity of water on the burnt area.
In case of major burns, after extinguishing the fire, remove all smoldering clothes. Wrap the victim in a clean bedsheet.
The patient should be taken to a burns specialist or a major hospital. Don't panic.
In case of sustaining eye injuries, wash the affected eye with tap water for 10 minutes and take the victim to a hospital.

Don't ignite fireworks while holding them.
Don't bend over the fireworks being ignited.
Don't ignite fireworks in any container.
Don't approach misfired fireworks immediately.
Don't tamper with misfired fireworks.It is best to discard them.
Don't attempt to make fireworks at home.
Don't allow small children to handle fireworks.
Don't throw or point fireworks at other people.
Don't carry fireworks in the pocket.
Don't store firecrackers near burning candles and diyas.
Don't light firecrackers in narrow by lanes; preferably use open areas and parks.
Don't wear synthetic clothing; preferably wear thick cotton clothing.
Don't wear loosely hanging clothes; secure all clothes properly.
Don't apply any cream or ointment or oil on burnt area.
Don't drive recklessly while taking a burn victim to the hospital; a delay of up to one hour is immaterial.

In a closed box, somewhere cool and dry, out of reach of children and animals and away from all sources of heat, until the time they're needed. Locked away is best. Don't keep the box under the stairs or in a passageway.

Pets get very frightened on fireworks night, so keep all your pets indoor and close all the curtains to make things calmer. Remember it's not just your own fireworks that cause distress, so you may have to have your pets indoors on several nights when other displays are taking place.

Before you start, make sure you'll be giving yourself enough room in a safe place to get to and from your box of fireworks while the display is going on. Have a full bucket of water handy for any emergency, and for putting used sparklers into. If you have the chance to get together with some other families, try to go to the home with the biggest open space and safest surroundings. Never try to re-ignite the fireworks that don't light in the first instance. Never give ANY firework item to small children. Never throw fireworks at another person. Never carry fireworks in your pocket. Never shoot fireworks from metal or glass containers. Never experiment, modify, or attempt to make your own fireworks.

Loose clothing can very easily catch fire, and should not be worn near any fire or fireworks. Long dangly scarves can be risky too. If anyone's clothing does catch fire, follow the rule: Stop - Don't run. Drop to the ground. Roll to put out the flames.

You (or another adult that you choose) must be the only person letting off fireworks. Don't allow anyone else - especially children - to do so while your display is going on. Let the fireworks off one at a time (not lots at once) and don't rush. Light the tip of each firework at arm's length, using fireworks lighter or fuse wick. Stand well back immediately. If one doesn't go off, don't go back to it - it could still be live, and could go off unexpectedly on your face. Right at the end of your fireworks night, douse the 'duds' with lots of water, keep it soaking in a bucket of water. Never throw left over fireworks onto a bonfire.

Read the instructions on each one carefully (by flashlight, never an open flame) and follow them properly. Rockets, for instance, should be launched from a rocket launcher, not from a bottle. Sparklers need careful handling - light them one at a time at arm's length; don't give one to any child under 5 years of age; make sure that anyone holding a sparkler wears gloves; and put each spent one into a bucket of water as soon as it's gone out.

Putting fireworks in your pocket is inadvisable and dangerous. Throwing fireworks at people is dangerous and illegal; it's a criminal offense to do so.

Drinking alcohol presents an added danger when there are fireworks and bonfires around. So its better to avoid consuming alcoholic beverages during your fireworks display.

Keep children well away from fireworks, and never let a child handle or light one. Even sparklers can be dangerous if unsupervised! Do not give sparklers to a child under five. Make sure that children are aware of the dangers.

Never take unnecessary risks while lighting fireworks, just to show off. Pool your pocket money and have a professional perform pyrotechnics for the benefit of many

My maid servant once requested me to leave her early. When I asked her the reason she informed me that she had to do the preparation for the Vat Poornima pooja to be performed the next day. She also said that as the temples are crowded on such festivals she preferred to buy branches of banyan tree from the hawkers in the market and perform the pooja at home peacefully. Further, she generously volunteered to buy branches for me. Even though I was furious I kept calm and tried to explain to her that our ancestors thought us to celebrate these festivals so that we would conserve our mother nature. So when we look upon trees and animals as gods, we would naturally take utmost care to preserve them. They had foresight but we have not understood the true meaning of these festivals. We give importance only to rituals and the real spirit is lost. Thus the very festivals which were started to conserve the nature are now causing harm to it. Explaining the importance of trees and animals in the nature and how they balance the ecosystem, I made her promise that she would not buy the branches of banyan tree from the hawker. The above incident brought back some 35 year old memories, when as per the Hindu calendar a rare combination of stars occurred on the vary day and a festival was celebrated. In a temple just be¬hind where I lived the temple priest managed to trap a koel from somewhere. During those days koels were rare in Mumbai. Probably the reason was that there was less garbage and so the population of crows was less and as a result even the koels were not spotted as fre¬quently as now. The priest then put up a notice inviting ladies to perform pooja and gather punya. Ladies thronged the temple to perform pooja of the koel. The next thing I heard was that the poor koel attained Samadhi. I am sure Mother Nature must have cursed the ladies for killing the innocent bird. In Indian mythology some animal or a bird is designated to each god as a vehicle with some favourite flower as an offering. The idea behind this was to give protection to the flora and fauna around us. Ancient Indians had recognized the animal rights to co exist with humans and therefore they were loved, nurtured, and even worshipped. They were aware that man is just one part of the food web and cannot live in isolation. In order to impress upon the commoners about the importance of wildlife, the animals and plants were associated with the gods and the goddesses. Our ancestors with their foresight designated some plant or animal as the god’s or the goddess’s vehicle. The reason being that along with the god and even the animal or plant used would be worshiped and conserved. These vehicles varied from insects, reptiles, birds to mammals. The kings and the emperors also opted for different animals in their emblems. Many festivals were observed in honour of several animals. In order to inculcate love for animals among children, animals were made heroes in stories. The rulers gave them prime position in art and architecture. Unfortunately, today we are neither adopting ancient Indians’ compassionate attitude, nor scientific approach of the westerners towards these animals and hence we are heading towards a catastrophe. Here we shall have a look at some of the animals that are used as vehicles and the myths associated with them. These vehicles actually represent the various energies that exist in the universe as well as in human beings. Each god or goddess in charge of a particular energy, which he or she rides and controls at his or her will. These energies are present in humans also, mostly as wild animal energies that need to be controlled and channelled properly in order to transform the lower sell and establish divine consciousness in him or her. Brahma's vehicle is the swan which stands for the intelligence and for the creative and discretionary energies in human. The swan is very beautiful, peaceful, and graceful bird. It is suggestive of the fact that Brahma is the master of all the beauty and grace in the world, and he can help us in our effort to acquire these qualities. It is also believed that the bird has the capacity to separate milk from water. This symbolically means that Brahma can help us to transform our intelligence, or our ability to discriminate the right from the wrong so that we can select the correct path to achieve salvation. Saraswati, the consort of Brahma is shown riding either the swan or the peacock. The peacock is a graceful and beautiful bird and is known for its dance before the rain. This denotes that Saraswati can immensely help those who want to pursue art and dance. The peacock also eats snakes, which symbolically means that she can help those who are accustomed to eating desires or for a better expression pursuing desires, by providing them with the divine knowledge and learning for which she is famous. Vishnu is seated on Adi Shesha, a close resemblance of the king cobra, the primal serpent god, who represents the desire consciousness in us. Vishnu can help us either to fulfil these desires or control them. When he travels, Vishnu rides on Garuda, the giant bird. The bird represents the human thoughts which can fly in all directions at incredible speed. Vishnu can help us to control our thoughts. Mahalakshmi rides on an owl. The owl is a solitary creature that remains awake in darkness and asleep during the day time. It rarely trust human beings and seldom seen in the company of any other bird. It in fact stays away from people as if it has no interest in the humanity. The owl is also regarded as an inauspicious image by the Hindus, who believe that if an owl visits a house in which people live, it is an ill omen. Mahalakshmi with her grace can remove all negative, inauspicious, and adverse influences from our lives. If some one is suffering from adversity, they should pray to her because she, who controls all ill omens and adversities can ward them off and bring them prosperity, thus she has rightly been shown as using a rare bird like an owl as her vehicle. Shiva rides the bull, which stands for the bullying, aggressive, blind, and brute power in humans. The dog is as much considered the animal vehicle of the Indian god Shiva as is the bull, Nandi. In fact, when Shiva is depicted with four dogs, they are said to represent the four Vedas, the most ancient of scriptures. Shiva in his wrathful form as Bhairava is especially portrayed with dogs. Here the association is with Shiva as yogi who meditates at battlegrounds and cemeteries, and so is connected with canines as scavengers. His consort Parvati uses the lion as her vehicle. The lion stands for cruelty, mercilessness, anger, violence, and hostility towards other beings. Parvati with her grace can help humans to control all these qualities in them. Ganesha uses as his carrier a very small mouse, which represents the fear and nervousness in humans, the feeling of doubt and weakness that overwhelm us before we start a venture. By praying to Ganesha, his devotees can overcome such feelings from their minds and go about their task confidently, with the assured feeling that the lord of obstacles alone can remove obstacles from our minds. Thus from the myths it was assured that humans would actually regard the importance of the various animals and not harm them. However with modernization the intellectual human has not only destroyed his or her surroundings but also shown disregard to the gods who pioneered conservation. * Compiled by MEHUL SHAH (Various publications).

In moments of adversity even the stronger of us is plagued with self-doubt. It helps to know that our life has purpose even if it is not clear to us all the time. Believing that we can emerge triumphant is the catalyst to transform our response to events from one of confused uncertainty to that of prismatic clarity in our thoughts and actions. It helps to know that we are not alone that there is a higher power guiding us in whatever form. We perceive that power to be, whether it is god or an ideology or a personal belief system. We may not underestimate the voice of intuition. Often when reason fails us, intuition guides us into action that is appropriate to our way of being. Intuition is among the most primitive of animal responses. We are thought of all along to ignore it and to use rational processes in decision-making. Yet, in moments of crisis when reason fails us, intuition whispers remedies if we care to listen. The one we love, share our trials and tribulations. Sometimes we get so obsessed with our own feelings; we forget that we are not alone and that the collective wisdom of our wishers can exceed our own. Even if our friends are not in a position to offer us advice and direct help, in the act of being there with us they strengthen our effort to overcome adversity. We should accept their support gracefully. There comes a point when we must do something. Merely waiting for the crisis to pass is not enough. That action may take many different forms. Usually, though not always, it involves an attempt to resolve the crisis. Often the effort itself is therapeutic as we move from a helpless self-pitying mode to a problem-solving, action-oriented mode. Even if we triumph over one adversity, it does not mean that we are free of all our trials. We should take stock periodically to appreciate the lessons that we have learnt. Usually these involve humility and an appreciation of the precious good moments we have in our short existence in this world. The saga of our own species can inspire us to transform our hardships into extrinsic as well as inner success, so that we emerge stronger, wiser, humbler and more aware of the magic of every moment that we are alive. We must remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore we should avoid undue elation in prosperity or undue depression in adversity. We should be balanced individuals. Good and bad moments are part of life and they must not affect individuals. One must learn from mistakes and forget the rest. Everyday is a new, whatever we have achieved is over, so we must set new targets and try to reach new goals. Life is like a match, sometimes we score and sometimes we get defeated. But one must learn to recover fast and dodge the adversities. And one must have the strength to bounce back with renewed enthusiasm.

We are the dust of long dead stars, or if we want to be less romantic, we are nuclear waste. The most wonderful thing we know about the universe is life, and that is the most complicated emergent phenomena we know of. If there is one trait that can help attain a happy and successful life,' it is optimism. Recent studies have shown that an optimistic attitude can bring all kinds of benefits, from better health and a longer life span to a higher level of achievement. Optimistic people seem to be able to weather life's problems much more effectively than others with far less stress. Even their love life is sure to thrive, as they are more willing to take risks and establish new relationships even despite failure. More important an optimistic attitude is a strong foreteller of wellness. Optimistic people are less likely to develop psychological and physical illnesses. On the other hand, pessimism or expecting the worst often predicts unhappiness and poor physical health. People who are pessimists are prone to depression, to developing physical symptoms, and even heart disease. The first step towards becoming an optimist is to become aware of one's habitual pessimistic thoughts. We must cultivate an awareness of our internal dialogue and notice what we tell us in difficult situations. We must write down these thoughts in short form that gives distance and allows greater objectivity. We must learn to get rid of the nagging voice in our head and discover how to celebrate mistakes. We must learn from the experiences rather than dwell on them negatively. We must creatively attempt to change what we are paying attention to in the situation. We must attempt to focus on the future rather than what has gone wrong in the past or we must look at the problem through another frame of reference that opens up new possibilities. We must praise and reward ourselves each time we step out of the box and find a new and more positive and creative way of thinking about or doing things. There are three main responses to any challenge resignation, anger, or possibility. This is because our response is based on our mental framework and it is feasible to invent new frameworks that give us more choices in difficult situations so even in what appears to be an impossible situation we can learn how to create a universe of possibility. Various beliefs and philosophies shape us and our lives, but how creatively we live forms the essence of our existence; the urge to create, the need to discover, the curiosity to know more, and the desire to stretch our parameters, egg us on. We have to seek new boundaries and then cross them. Transcending barriers and surrounding obstacles keep us alive. The wish to discover more in life, every moment and every second is very important. It is one thing to just discover something, a new emotion, a feeling, or just a new way of being, and it is another to do something with that discovery. That discovery has to be used creatively so that it can be interpreted in many different ways like any work of art that grows with time. Life is so complex and one reason for its complexity is the constant interpretation that is needed to make it interesting and challenging. The only constant in life is the continuous need to change, the continuous need to reinvent ourselves and better ourselves, and the continuous need to discover the world around us, thereby evolving into a rich human being with a wider perspective of life. Spirituality is the most private component of one's life. When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, we must tend to look both within as well as without for support. Both, known and unknown factors could cause stress in one's life. While the known factors can be controlled by making correct judgments, the unknown is more often and beyond one's control. No bad time can last forever. We should put effort into our work and leave the rest to god. Our world is crammed, full of words, images, and sounds; but our real power comes from knowing who we are and what we are here to do, and that begins with looking inside ourselves in silence. Where we are, we should be there totally. By bringing immense energy and well-honed attention to the moment, we can be fully and brilliantly aware. Journeys within are essential for every individual. One should be open to discovery, to change, to new beginnings. There is something new to learn every minute. Living in the past serves no purpose. One needs to live in the present and hope for the future. Our past is nothing, but a collection of memories. Our future is nothing, but imagination. What we have in control is today. We should make it a happy and positive day and we will have lovely memories to look back upon. The most important challenge of life is to heal the wounds of our past so that we do not continue to bleed. In life, yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, and today is a gift; that is why it is called the present so we must enjoy our today's life. We are on this planet and we want to live, not just exist. Life is too short and wondrous to waste in grief and negativity. We should live fully and graciously and learn to be happy. People can only live fully by helping others to live. When we give life to friends, we truly live. Cultures can only realize their further richness by honouring other traditions. And only by respecting natural life can humanity continue to exist.