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Hello, this is Jana, and I’m here with a poem from India, called ‘Song of a Dream’,in honour of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of lights.

Diwali celebrates the victory of light over darkness, and good over evil.

For Indians, Diwali is a huge holiday. It usually involves a lot of fireworks lighting up the sky. The celebrations last for five days, though the third day, which marks Lakshmi is the most important. Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity and beauty.

My family, who come from India, are in fact, Christian. But in honour of my ancestral country, I'm going to read an Indian poem, ‘Song of a Dream’, by Sarojini Naidu. I hope it will light up your heart.

ONCE in the dream of a night I stood
Lone in the light of a magical wood,
Soul-deep in visions that poppy-like sprang;
And spirits of Truth were the birds that sang,
And spirits of Love were the stars that glowed,
And spirits of Peace were the streams that flowed
In that magical wood in the land of sleep.

Lone in the light of that magical grove,
I felt the stars of the spirits of Love
Gather and gleam round my delicate youth,
And I heard the song of the spirits of Truth;
To quench my longing I bent me low
By the streams of the spirits of Peace that flow
In that magical wood in the land of sleep.

And that was ‘Song of a Dream’, a charming poem by the Indian Poetess, Sarojini Naidu, whom Mahatma Gandhi called the "Indian Nightingale".

I do hope that you enjoyed it. For now, from me, Jana, Happy Diwali!