A different Diwali..

I would not say good or bad, I would just say that it was different.
It was 10am of the day.It was Diwali.I was thinking of all my last diwalis when I used to grumble that its the same every year, nothing different...
For the first time in my life, I was not at home on Diwali.Obviously, I was sad.
I hardly got messages and calls from old friends wishing me happy diwali. Everybody is getting busier. I also did not bother much to send smses and make calls.
After mourning and sulking for quite sometime,I decided to make this diwali different.
I wished all the unknown persons..whom i will never meet again perhaps..ever in life.
The sales girl in the departmental store from where i bought diyas, the housekeeping lady in the restaurant where i went for dinner, my watchman, the security guard, firecrackers seller...
I thought,atleast I had a day off from work, for them it was no different than everyday...
Thanks to the old friends of mine who stay close by, being with them is like being at home.
I accompanied a friend to a favorite place of his. Desire Society- Home for HIV and AIDS infected/affected kids.
A group of youngsters was there to celebrate diwali with those kids. The place was so full of life. Each face there was lit up like diwali diyas...
Spent sometime with those children,fired crackers with them.
They were dancing and hopping all around. Something inside me was troubling me hard..may be guilt or shame or...the realization of my ingratitude towards the Almighty...
Through out the day, I met so many souls who have so less in life, and for them, someone wishing "happy diwali" means so much...