No break for cops,firemen,doctors

Being a part of Diwali celebrations for every single family and yet not taking active part in the festival is the biggest irony for them.

Written by Nitin Jain
Mohali | November 5, 2010 05:26 AM IST

2 min read

Being a part of Diwali celebrations for every single family and yet not taking active part in the festival is the biggest irony for them. While everyone else will be in a holiday mood,doctors,policemen,paratroopers etc,will have little to time for their families.

Saying that its 24-hour duty for them since they were responsible for any accident anytime in their respective beats,Rajinder Singh,a cop,said there was no Diwali for them,but of course they can burst crackers at their place of posting in the open. But this festival is more of a family affair than anything else. On a day like Diwali extra vigilance is required and its our duty and we swore to do it when we joined work. So there are no two ways about it, he says.

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Having a similar story to tell,a Fire department official Mohinder Kumar said,Fire is almost a synonym with Diwali and to have a festival of lights with no accident is almost an impossible thing. Saying that a celebration or a holiday on Diwali is simply out of question as they are supposed to take extra measures to combat fire incidents,he recalled his early years when his children were small and they wanted him at home.

However,paramilitary force personnel follow a different strain of thought. Most of them do not have families to snatch a few special moments with them even on a festival day. A guard deployed on security of a local official said,I can still enjoy a few festive moments with the family Im working for.

Believing in the duty-before-self adage,the doctors too have to remain away from their families during festivals. Saying,duty is duty,a leading surgeon,Dr Ranjana Agrawal,feels that serving patients is in itself the true celebration of Diwali. The family is always there,but somebody has to come forward to help society in such situations, she said.