Once upon a time, in a village in India, there was a boy named Rohan. He lived with his parents and his grandmother in a small cottage. As the days grew shorter, his grandmother said, “It’s time for us to get ready for Diwali.” Rohan grinned from ear to ear. He loved the Festival of Lights! The whole family got together, there was delicious food, and the house was always brightly lit.
“Do you want to know why we celebrate Diwali in the first place?” his grandmother asked. The boy looked at her with wide eyes. “You know, a long time ago, there was a prince named Rama. He was very brave and kind. Rama was deeply in love with his wife, Sita. So he was very unhappy when an evil demon named Ravana kidnapped his beautiful Sita. He asked his brother Lakshmana and the brave monkey king Hanuman for help in rescuing her.”
Rohan listened intently. He hadn’t expected there to be such an exciting story behind it all. “After a long search, the three of them found the evil Ravana and Sita. A long, thrilling battle ensued. Finally, Prince Rama managed to defeat his opponent. He and Princess Sita fell into each other’s arms. After the initial joy of their reunion, they set off on their journey home. They were quite amazed when they saw their kingdom. Every house was aglow with light! The people had lit small lamps to welcome Rama and Sita home. With the diyas—as the little lamps are also called—they celebrated the victory of good over evil.”
Grandmother stood up to begin decorating the house. There were still many diyas to set up, and the family and relatives were expecting homemade sweets. “And why do we set off fireworks on Diwali?” Rohan was curious. “The fireworks are meant to remind us of the joy people felt when Rama and Sita returned home,” said a voice behind Rohan. His mother had finished applying the henna tattoos to her hands. The beautiful designs were very time-consuming to create, but Diwali was worth the effort to her.
Later that evening, Rohan stood in front of the house with his family, eating laddoos—sweet dough balls that his grandmother had just made. When the fireworks finally began, he thought of Rama and Sita and was glad that the two of them had made it home safely after their adventure.
Image credit: motionstock on Pixabay
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