इस बार की दिवाली


इस बार की दिवाली कुछ खास है,
मायूसी के अंधेरों को चीरता,
उम्मीद के दीयों का प्रकाश है,
इस बार की दिवाली कुछ खास है...
मुखोटों के पीछे से ही सही,
एक दूसरे की शुभकामनाएं तो पास हैं,
इस बार की दिवाली कुछ खास है...

यूँ तो हम रिश्तेदारों से दूर हैं मगर,
फिर भी कुछ अपनों का साथ है,
इस साल दावतें कुछ कम ही सही,
पर अपने घर के कोनों में तो,
देसी घी की मिठाई की महक का वास है,
इस बार की दिवाली कुछ खास है,
क्यूँकि शायद इस दिवाली में मेरे तुम्हारे बचपन की गहरी याद है...
हाँ, इस बार की दिवाली कुछ खास है...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Years, One Dream: Lessons from My PhD Journey

Image
 May 2025. I walked across the stage, heart pounding and eyes welling up, to receive my PhD in Epidemiology. After ten long years, I wasn’t just a graduate, I was a warrior, a mother, a wife, a full-time professional, and now, a doctor of philosophy. Yes, ten years. This wasn’t your traditional academic timeline. It was a marathon, a part-time PhD done alongside a full-time job and a full-time life. And at 43, with my 8-year-old daughter cheering me on and my husband proudly holding the camera, I felt something that’s hard to describe, an overwhelming mix of exhaustion, joy, relief, and above all, pride. Here are the lessons I learned through this extraordinary journey, lessons I hope will inspire anyone walking their own long, winding road toward a dream. Sometimes the Plan Will Break, But You Don’t Have To In 2015, I began my PhD at Indiana University with stars in my eyes and a scholarship to back it. I had already earned my MPH there the year before and had a couple...
Read more

2025: A Year of Disasters or a Year of Beginnings?

Image
  Today, I sat down to write this article because my heart feels unusually heavy, weighed down by a deep-seated anxiety triggered by an endless stream of alarming news. Wildfires consuming forests, volcanic eruptions displacing communities, earthquakes shaking the foundations of lives built over decades, tragic plane crashes, and heartbreaking images of wars displacing millions, each headline adds another layer of unease. This heaviness extends into economic uncertainty. Friends, family, and colleagues grapple with job losses driven by recession, geopolitical tensions, and a technological wave, artificial intelligence, that promises incredible innovation yet disrupts traditional employment models. Every day, another crisis headline emerges, fueling our collective anxiety. Compounding these challenges is the rapid spread of misinformation in our hyper-connected digital age. Social media amplifies both genuine news and baseless rumors at lightning speed. Astrology influencers confide...
Read more

Beyond the Crisis: Reinventing Public Health for the Next Generation

Image
  A Crisis of Uncertainty, Not Purpose   Right now, it’s hard not to feel discouraged. Across the U.S., public health departments are facing shrinking budgets, hiring freezes, and painful layoffs. I’ve seen friends and colleagues, some of the most dedicated professionals I know, lose their positions. I’ve felt the stress ripple through my own work as an epidemiologist and public health consultant. For many of us, especially those who gave everything during the COVID-19 response, this feels like a harsh and confusing reward. But as painful as this moment is, it’s not a signal that public health is failing. It’s a signal that public health is evolving. We've Been Here Before: A History of Grit and Ingenuity Public health has never had it easy. When Dr. John Snow traced a cholera outbreak in 1854 to a single water pump in London, he had no lab, no funding, and no real institutional support. What he did have was curiosity, data, and a deep concern for his community. From t...
Read more