Millions light candles, diyas to show solidarity
Many burst crackers, defeat purpose
NEW DELHI: Millions of Indians across the country switched off lights at their homes and
lit candles and diyas or turned on mobile phone flashlights on Sunday night, responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to show the nation’s “collective resolve and solidarity” in its fight against coronavirus with this symbolic gesture.
However, in many parts across the country, crackers were burst which defeated the purpose all together. Street
lights were turned off too. Much before the designated time of 9 pm, people turned off lights at their homes while
lamps and candles lit up the streets as people stood in their balconies and at entrance doors in unison. Fireworks, sounds from the beating of thalis, conches, whistles and police sirens were heard.
At many places the air resonated with the sounds of devotional songs, mantras and national anthem, in scenes similar to the ones seen across the country on March 22 when Modi had sought to rally Indians by asking them to come out briefly at 5 pm to show gratitude to health and other essential service providers.
President Ram Nath Kovind along with wife Savita, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu And his wife Ushamma, several Union ministers including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, BJP patriarch L K Advani and prominent personalities from various fields including Bollywood too lighted diyas and candles.
People continued to stay outside while maintaining social distancing much beyond the nine minutes. In some pockets, Diwali seemed to have arrived months earlier.
Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan lit a diya along with AIIMS doctors and staff, whom he calls “Corona warriors”, at the Delhi campus.
The nine-minute lights-out event on Sunday evening went off well without any disruption in the electricity grid after the government and utilities put in place elaborate plans to deal with the sudden drop and then a quick spurt in demand.
Several opposition leaders had expressed concern that the event could result in grid collapse. Meanwhile, people in Kolkata also bursted firecrackers in a few residential colonies. Some residents also blew conch shells.