There is a saying that if you see a girl's face with the candlelight that you will never be able to forget and you will fall in love with that girl. I have never tried that, so which is not sure true. But I have plenty of experience with lanterns and candles, which I think is still the case with most of the rural households.
We had electricity ever since I can remember. But those days, electricity was not very stable. Often there were power failures. When it starts raining, power was bound to fail, and my father used to say that it is due to a tree, touching on powerlines. Which I think may not have been the case most of the times. Generally, we had to revert back to candles and lanterns until power was restored often, would take at least a day. This meant whole afternoons were spent under lanterns.
Have you ever been under a lantern?
It was not by choice but by default. There was nothing much can be done with the light. Mostly we had to finish our homework before dark. One lantern and a few candles would provide few hours into the night. The wavy flame often creates dancing shadows on the walls. Like tiny bugs who are attracted to the lantern we also gathered around it. Candles were often spared as they would burn quickly. Mainly used if you want to go around the house. I can remember looking at the flame of a candle or the lantern. What was I thinking? I am not sure. But I can remember the smell of the kerosine and the burning thread which can be moved up to bring more light to the room. I remember the flame with dark blue color at the bottom with orange top. Tiny insects dart across the room attracted to the light and they land on the glass cover. Often, they would burn themselves not fully, but unable to fly again, they would fall on their backs and struggle to move with half burnt wings and legs.
I was scared of the dark and would not leave the room when it is dark. And these hours of silence lasted until we took our dinner and, would end.
Candles were different, I could touch the melting wax. Even molding half melted wax into little balls was fun. Making silhouettes on the walls, we could enjoy a little story.
The era of candles and lanterns are long gone. I have seen the London nights with thousands of starry decorations in December. Nights which were almost bright as the day. And I compared it with my mind to the Candlelight nights. That is what minds does. They compare and try to make sense. Try to weight one over the other. For a moment I observed this. And came into conclusion, it doesn't matter nothing is better. It really doesn't matter and how I came about this I would explain.
A mindful night
When you read about Candlelight nights, maybe you have done the same. Maybe you have either imagined candlelight nights with similar experiences which you had in the past. And you may have valued these, either with likes or dislikes. And compared with nights of your own, candles, lanterns, bulbs. Which is better. What does it matter. If I think Candlelight nights are better, I would be living in the past and I would not be able to see the value of modern lighting. If I would think tonight is better, still that would be a label and would be unhappy when the bulbs burn. So, I would observe mind and refuse to accept its judgment. And see what will happen If I do not value at all.
What would you do? Would you rather value a Candlelight night or a well-lit room with a Chandelier?
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