Poetry reading,candles mark Diwali festivity in Tihar jail

Tihar jail,which houses almost 11,000 prisoners,is among the largest prison complexes in South Asia.

“This Diwali,apart from the routine distribution of sweets and special food,we are also conducting discourses on Diwali and the significance of the festival,” said Gupta.

While in 2009,the cast and crew of the movie ‘Jail’ visited the inmates on Diwali,this year officials have invited well known poets to celebrate the festival with the prisoners.

“We have organised a Kavi Sammelan,where eminent poets like Ashok Chakravarthy and Vijay Goswami will read out their works,” said a prison official,adding that it will help inmates the de-stress.

“Prison life isn’t easy. Such sessions will help the inmates relax,” said the official.

Gupta said that sweets prepared by the inmates would not only be distributed among them but will also be sold outside.

“Special sweets have been prepared by inmates which will be sold outside,apart from other products that they

routinely make. They will also light candles but there will be no crackers due to security reasons,” he said. In what came as a surprise to many,seven convicts serving life sentences were set free on Diwali in 2008,but officials said this year there was no such proposal.