India, Nov. 5 -- Dr. Manasa Nagabhushanam

There is something about Deepavali that has stirred human hearts for ages. Perhaps it is because light is simply the absence of darkness, and each of us carries some darkness within: of ignorance, of fear, of the quiet unknown blocks that keep us small. Long ago the rishis felt this same longing and prayed, "Asato ma sadgamaya, tamaso ma jyotirgamaya" (lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light). The Mundaka Upanishad whispers that all this shines only by His light, "tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati". Perhaps that is why, in every Hindu home and shrine, a lamp is lit each evening. Imagine those nights before electricity, when the sun went down and that tiny flame was all that stoo...