Fireworks on Diwali
By Giriraj Swami
On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, I share with you a description by Smriti “Baby” Warrier (later initiated as Sravana dasi), whose family were tenants at Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, of how when she was a child she and her brothers wanted to set off fireworks, and how Srila Prabhupada responded.
One Diwali, in the evening, Mother Kanta was in the women’s ashram above our flat and we were outside setting off fireworks. It was around 9:00, and I guess she wanted to take rest, but we weren’t finished playing. So she started throwing buckets of water down on us. My brothers and I marched up to Srila Prabhupada’s room. Caitya-guru caught us and said, “You can’t go in there—he’s resting.” We must have made a lot of noise, because Prabhupada called, “Let them in.” My brothers went in and pleaded that we wanted to do fireworks, but Prabhupada said, “No, it’s too noisy.” So my brothers gave up and walked out. But I, the youngest, stood there and said, “But it’s Diwali—we’ve got to break some firecrackers.” Then Prabhupada said, “All right, until 10:00—but after that, no more.” So we got permission and broke firecrackers. The next day, Mother Kanta came with a plate of maha-prasada and apologized for throwing water on us.
Being so close to Srila Prabhupada, at Hare Krishna Land, you got to associate with him in a different light.