Diwali Puja, Novi Ligure, Italy, October 25th, 1998 I am overjoyed really today to see you all here to celebrate the Diwali Puja. We were to be in Portugal but it was not so – so we are here. Diwali Puja is a very small puja but extremely significant. Firstly in Diwali, the first day they buy something for the family. You can – maybe some cooking utensil could be, an ornament for the wife or something like that. Because that is the day of housewife. And that day is to be celebrated as the housewife’s, I should say, homage to her. As a result you know in India even now housewives are very much respected. Actually they are respected all over. You will be amazed that even in the protocol of the government receptions anywhere the wife is very important. And where she is sitting, what is her position is very important. Even today in the most modern and advanced countries also they have a special respect for the housewife. The housewife may not be educated, she may be a very simple woman, she may not be very modern. There was an experience for Me: in London we had a program where we all were invited, and the head of the delegation, his wife was missing. So they asked Me, “Where is she?” Because there is a seat for her, she has to sit there. I said, “I don’t know, I didn’t see her. She must be somewhere here.” Read More …