THE LOGIC OF THE LAMP














“You cannot defeat darkness
by running from it.”

Seth Adam Smith

Ever since our Prime Minister came on TV, yesterday, and urged us to switch off the lights at our homes and light a lamp – a diya, candle or a torch – most of us have been flooded with very interesting messages: Why we all must follow our PM’s advice, and what is the ‘logic’ behind this advice, particularly,  why  he has chosen 5th  April, Sunday, at 9 pm and for 9 minutes!

The last time, when it was on a Sunday at 5 pm for 5minutes – with taali, thaali or ghanti – we saw how it all ended up… how deeply grateful  we all had been to our medical staff… and, above all, what a transformation of hearts that has come about!

Yes, this time, too, most of us seem to be needing the Prime Minister of our country to remind us to light a lamp to dispel the darkness from our lives! Yes, most of us seem to be, once again, waiting for 5th April, Sunday, 9 pm to self-create a darkness and dispel it with diyas, candles and torches for 9 minutes!

Yes, it seems, we all are waiting to scream – like the last time – “We did it” … “We did it”!

Everything we do in life – including our religious rituals – has a ‘logic’ behind it. So, you and I can justify our rituals with the scientific or astrological logic behind them. But, I can’t understand this simple logic, Sir: Why do we need our Prime Minister to remind us to light a lamp to dispel the darkness in our lives? Why do we need to wait till 5th April, Sunday, 9 pm and keep our lamps lit for nine minutes?

Yes, are we not wise enough to understand, that the need today is the light within; that it is urgent and cannot be postponed till Sunday 9 pm?

Lamps lit on our balconies may be able to dispel the outside darkness for nine minutes; but, to dispel the darkness within – and not just for nine minutes - we need to be ever vigilant – awake, alert and alive!

This old story comes to my mind… It may be helpful, now, when ‘darkness’ has fallen upon us:


THE BLIND MAN
AND HIS LANTERN 

 Once, a blind-man had been to another town to visit his friend. Late that evening, when the blind-man was ready to leave, his friend lit a lantern and handed it over to the blind-man, saying, “My friend, soon it will be dark outside; please carry this lantern along.”


The blind-man was amused. “I am a blind-man, my dear friend,” he laughed at the suggestion of his friend, “for me, a night and a day are both same.”


“This lamp is not for you,” the friend explained, “this is for others to see a blind-man walking in the darkness.”


“That makes a lot of sense,” the blind-man agreed, “I will carry the lamp with me to wade safely through the darkness.”


Thus, that night, the blind-man, holding in his hand the lantern given by his friend, was on his way home. Along the way, a passerby saw the blind-man with lantern in his hand and asked curiously, “Tell me O stranger, what good can that lantern serve you in this darkness?”


The blind-man had a ready logic packed and parceled by his friend while leaving. So, he quickly replied, “This lantern is for you so see a blind-man walking in the darkness.”

“But, my dear stranger,” the passerby pointed, “the light is long out of your lantern!”





GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: www.istockphoto.com

Video: Vishnu Vasu


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