HAVE A VERY HAPPY DEEPAVALI.

Deepavali is the celebration of the triumph of Light over Darkness, may the whole Universe become enlightened. It is also the triumph of good over evil; may Peace prevail to every corner of humanity within and without. It is a time of renewal of the spiritual energy in the service God and humanity. It is the close of one chapter and the beginning of another in the state of one's body, speech and mind to a higher level of enlightenment. It is the time to renew family and friendship bonds among man, to  forgive and forget, to cherish and uphold Love and Compassion among ourselves and to acknowledge our respect and gratefulness to those who brought us into this world.  
On this blessed day for the Hindus as a child i always looked forward to visiting my grand uncle and his Hindu family with my grandfather. My grand father was converted to Islam when he married my grandmother a very devout Indonesian Muslim. However his yonger brother refused to do so and married and Indian lady and becmae a Hindu. He has four children, two boys and two girls; my aunties and uncles. Because my granduncle married very late in his life only the eldest girl is older than me and I looked forward to playing with them during my  visits. My grand uncle who was known as Martin was a caretaker of the Methodist Boys School his entire life till the day day he died. He was also the grounds keeper for the Mahindrama Buddhist Temple located across the main road from the school. The temple walls and ceiling were paintings, frescos of the life of the Buddha and other Hinayana Buddhist icons. In the 50s I was a Buddhist student studying the Pali canon every weekend until I was sent to terengganu to be converted to Islam at the age of twelve.
Hence the celebration of Deepavali holds warm memories for me as a child. It is also a reminder of who I am as far cultural and family heritage is concern. It is apt the i was born and raised in this multi-racial multi-cultural and multi-religious country,; in my life i have covered all grounds. What was a challenging childhood as far as religious upbringing went, what was a drag where teenage life happened, I survived and lived life pretty much according to my choices, right or wrong only life itself has yet to reveal and God to decide. But suffice to say I have lived to the best or worst of my ability and am able to share wll there is to share with this Blogging. I celebrate the Chinese New Year and the Muslim Eid Mubarak and Eidil Firtri and I celebrate Christmas; these are among my holy days, I feel fortunate indeed.