Here is a charming story for the festive season. Lights for the Jamuna goes 300 years back to Mughal times, when preparations are afoot for grand Diwali celebrations at the Red Fort. Meera, the potter’s daughter, knows that the Badshah Muhammad Shah ‘Rangeela’ has planned a huge Akash Diya above the palace which will light up the sky even more than the sun. Everybody is terribly busy—potters, carpenters, halwais are all working overtime… the festival will be the grandest ever because ‘everything is being claimed for the royal celebration…lamps, fireworks, clothes, wooden frames, metal stands, even jewels.’ Excitement grows everywhere!
But what about lighting up the Jamuna that sustains so many lives? ‘The potters, the carpenters, the metalworkers, the masons…all of us who live and work by the Jamuna… She lights our lives. So, on Diwali we light the river and let her carry the light back,’ Baba, Meera’s father says.
Meera is wildly enthusiastic. ‘Yes, we should make something the Jamuna has never seen before. Maybe a garden of light on the river. Diyas that float like flowers, from one end of the ghat to the other…The Akash Diya will shine in the sky above the palace, and our Jamuna will shine below on the earth.’ She collects all her friends around—Ameena, Gulab, Salim, Chanda, Nur…and they plan to make diyas like the river has never seen, that will float like flowers in a water garden on tiny wooden bases.
The children get to work early the very next morning before the day’s chores begin and continue late in the evenings after chores are done …it’s all for the Jamuna after all! And a couple of days before the festival, everything is ready. Till they remember one important thing they have missed—OIL!
Where is oil to be found? They gather some money and race towards the bustling market square of Chandni Chowk. But there’s not a drop of oil anywhere! It is all for the palace lamps and the Akash Diya! Deeply disappointed, they wonder, can they leave the Jamuna in total darkness after all that work? It must be lit up too! A plan starts forming in Meera’s busy mind.
The Badshah is coming to Chandni Chowk …everyone is waiting for him perched on ledges and rooftops as banners flutter and gleam. The royal procession advances to the beat of drums and then comes the Badshah! An unexpected turn of events takes place and then…
‘For the first time the sky and the water shone together. And between them, the city of Shahjahanabad celebrated its brightest Diwali ever!’
Appealing information and activities on Mughal times follow the story. Those far off days come alive as the young reader wanders through the bustling and colourful lanes of eighteenth-century Delhi. The Mughal Emperor loved art, poetry and festivals celebrated in a spirit of communal harmony. Even today, many skilled arts flourish in the winding lanes of Shahjahanabad, keeping alive traditions that have been passed down many generations. Activities like making clay diyas add to the fun of this book.
Mamta Nainy is an award-winning children’s author and also translates between Hindi and English. Bhavana’s expressive and attractive illustrations give depth to the story. The feeling of hope and the joy of celebrating together that permeate this book make it a heart-warming Diwali gift.