Chandigarh, Oct. 20 -- As lights flicker across balconies and homes fill with the scent of sweets and smoke from diyas, there's another side to Diwali - quieter, lonelier, but just as essential. From hospital wards to fire stations and crowded crossings, a section of society stays back to ensure the festival runs smoothly for everyone else. At Chandigarh's PGIMER, Muskan Sharma, a 26-year-old nursing officer from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, prepares for another festive season away from home. It's been seven years since she left her family and three since she last celebrated Diwali with them. Yet, she and her colleagues still keep the spirit alive - ordering sweets, putting up a few decorations or by exchanging little gifts with patients who can't go home either. "Especially at times like these, being a healthcare official gives me a sense of pride," she says. "Light and hope-are the real essence of Diwali. Even if I can provide comfort to a patient for a brief period, sacrificing my own moments of celebration doesn't feel like such a loss." With three consecutive 12-hour night shifts ahead, her version of Diwali will begin not with fireworks, but with the quiet assurance that she's helping someone else find light. At Sector 17's fire station, a team of nearly a hundred fire and rescue officers stands ready across three shifts. Deepak Kumar, 30, from Fatehgarh, has been working here for three years. Coming from an agricultural family, he sends a portion of his salary home each month to his parents and younger brother. "It's our duty" he says simply - a never ending service that doesn't pause for festivals. During Diwali, their workload spikes - more calls about firecracker related incidents, kitchen fires and electrical short-circuits mean heightened vigilance and faster response times. Deepak, who will be returning to an empty home on Diwali night, said with a faint smile, "As long as citizens are safe and enjoying their Diwali, we're happy to sacrifice ours." A few kilometres away in Sector 22, Dalel Singh Puniya stands under a blinking traffic signal, directing vehicles through the Diwali rush. At 57, he has spent 33 years in the police service and has never celebrated Diwali at his home in Kaithal, Haryana. His three children, now adults, have grown up marking the festival without him. "Even though they're who I do it all for," he says quietly, "I've missed all the precious moments of their lives." He gestures toward his colleague, Meet Singh from Ludhiana, who too hasn't been home for Diwali in the last seventeen years. "They're the family I've made here," Puniya says. "Watching others celebrate Diwali in all its glory fills our hearts with the spirit of thefestival."...