My paper lantern

It was a week before Diwali. I had gone to the market to buy paper lantern for Diwali. It was towards the end of October but the rains had not stopped. I went to various shops but all shopkeepers had been telling that the lanterns got destroyed in the rain. The lanterns they had with them were either stained or spoiled because of the rain. I took a good look at them and decided that I was not going to spend my money on spoiled products.

I came home empty handed without any lanterns. But I had decided something. If I did not get the paper lanterns then I would make them myself. It was not a challenge for me because I used to make paper lanterns ever since my childhood days. I went to the nearby stationery shop to buy the material required to make the paper lanterns.

Making the paper Lantern was the easiest task for me. Within 2 hours the lantern was ready. We mounted the lantern in our balcony and the home was ready for Diwali. But a tragedy hit after that.

Diwali began with bright lights and beautiful lantern. It was the day of Laxmi Pujan. At 4 o'clock in the evening suddenly it became dark. From the balcony I could see that dark grey clouds had started gathering. After seeing that visual I felt little uneasy. I did not get scared but I was worried because of the possibilities of rain. I was worried that if rain starts then my lantern would be in trouble. It would get wet and may even get damaged because of the rain. I did not want my lantern to get damaged. I close my eyes and prayed to God, " please protect my lantern".

By 4:30 p.m. it started raining. Then it started pouring heavily. From the bedroom I was staring at the lantern in the balcony. The winds had been violent that evening. The rain was powerful too. The rain and the wind looked like they were playing football with my lantern. The lantern was moving around vigorously. It looked wet. I was worried that on the second day of Diwali the lantern would break. I would need to replace it with the lanterns from the market. I did not want to do that. I was just hoping that somehow the lantern sustains the storm.

After 2 hours the storm subsided. I went into the balcony to see the sorry state of my lantern. It was completely wet. But thankfully it was not damaged. It was not torn from any side. I thanked god for keeping my lantern safe.

Then I looked around from my balcony. I saw that other people from my residential area had also been checking their own lanterns. Everyone was touching the lantern and investigating the damage. That moment I felt that I was not alone. I felt connected to the community who had been worrying about the damage that was caused by the harsh storm.

One of the neighbours looked at me. I showed them the 'Thumbs Up' 👍🏻 sign with a smile telling them that my lantern is fine. They reciprocated the gesture. That moment I felt that how a storm had been a silent communicator between the community.

Needless to say that it indeed was a 'happy' Diwali.