सतो मा सद्गमय तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय मृत्यो: मा अमृतं गमय

India is a land of spirituality, culture, beliefs and traditions. 

It is a land that thrives on these wonderful ideas and that is what makes it a land most beautiful. 

Lighting a lamp is considered to be auspicious. It is also symbolic of driving away darkness and spreading knowledge all around. 

There is a wonderful Sanskrit aphorism, which means, “Lead us from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge and from mortality to immortality.” 

Also Read: PM Modi's exhortation to light lamp and spread light

Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted his countrymen to light lamps tonight at 9 pm for 9 minutes as a gesture to show solidarity with those who have been affected by the virus, who are recovering and  those who are serving them day and night, risking their own lives. 

 

 

Of course, there are rampant criticisms about the event. Some say it is trivial evet aimed at mere PR exercise and the PM should have delineated on the steps taken by the government in tackling the virus. 

Politicians too have not been left far behind. Former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy sought that PM Modi should reason out the science behind the move. 

Also Read: HD Kumaraswamy questions PM Modi over light-a-diya event

And you have many journalists who are on the edge of their seats to somehow smear the event with allegations, make it unsuccessful and bring a bad reputation to PM Modi. 

That being the reason, they even brought out newer angles like power grid collapse due to steep fall in demand and steep rise in demand. But much to their chagrin, power experts have pooh-poohed the theory, emphasizing India has one of the best electrical systems in the country and can handle such situations with ease. 

Also Read: How India will take care of power grid collapse, if any!

They also added that every night, as India sleeps, there is a similar situation. Also, they did not miss out on reminding that we celebrate Earth Hour to reduce global warming. 

So in spite of the herculean effort to dismiss this event as ostentation, let’s all come out and light the lamp of love and knowledge at 9 pm tonight.