An unusual Deepawali in our lifetime was the first thought in my mind, as we were sipping the hot tea yesterday evening. Never were we both alone during this festival. We had our family with us always. Maybe time for some reflections I felt and suddenly my eyes fell on HIM. There He sat silently with a garland of fresh flowers. We were not alone afterall, Buddha with his folded hands was trying to communicate.

The Day began with the customary Oil bath and partaking of the leghyam( health tonic) specially prepared during Diwali for digestion and some sweets. We decided to go to the nearby temple. As we were getting into the Autorickshaw I noticed the driver kept his eyes half closed. A bit concerned if fatigue or sleepiness is the cause of that, I told my husband about that. He was cool. So I quite forgot the safety aspect. When we reached the temple and got off the rickshaw, he offered to bring us back after our prayers. On our way back home he was totally relaxed .

Back home we were trying to fix the toran( stringed flowers used for doorway decoration). It fell short of length . My husband then asked me to adorn Buddha with those flowers. This is how Buddha made his presence felt.

There He stood with a warm smile and look, full of devotion . I got confused. He said Sanatana Dharma has many finer and refined principles and doctrines, which has given its status of being eternal. He expressed a desire to Comeback and practice the same in today's world. I just laughed. He continued saying seeing one's own reflection through the lens of the strings of many births does help one overcome his/ her deficiencies/ shortcomings. Happiness is the basic need for any one to lead their life. Happiness has many forms like being peace loving , compassionate, tolerant and joyful .

Had the Tathagata been given a patient hearing then the story could have been different. He would have remained a noble hindu ruler inspiring many others who followed.