Years ago, Diwali evenings were not just marked by bursting crackers but also involved a ritual where kids carried around a torch made of sugarcane. Called Kaag Maagdi, the torch signified efforts to remove discord from every house. Over the years, the ritual more or less disappeared in the cities, yet some families until a few years religiously followed it. "In our family, the elderly male carried out the ritual. We did it for the wellbeing of a newborn in the family and it was supposed to be done for five continuous years for each of the newborn," said Hemlata Dave, a retired school teacher in whose joint family the tradition was stopped a few years ago. "It involved getting a sugarcane and making four slits in it. Either a lamp or a wick covered in cotton was placed on sticks in the slit and you went around each room with the lighted torch. The idea was to remove any evil eye against the newborn and to ensure that his future was always well lit," said Dave. She said often the neighbours too offered their wishes by pouring oil on the wick of the torch. "It was their way of contributing to the well wishes for the newborn," said Dave. As the kids grew up in her joint family and no new additions were made, the ritual stopped, she reminisced. But not everyone remembers it as as a ritual to safeguard the newborns in the house. Gautam, a retired banker said it is still practised in the villages. "It is usually the kids who carry the torch to every household and each household pours a bit of ghee or oil the torch. It symbolises removal of everything bad in the house. The torch is then put in the village square where it burns out. It is great fun for children," said Gautam. Over the years, he said, the ritual has disappeared from the cities but in some pockets dominated by certain communities it is still prevalent. "At each house the children also sing a song to scare away the evil," said Gautam. He said a similar ritual is also carried out in the morning of New Year's (the day after Diwali). Sukhdev Patel, who has done extensive work on educational rights of children, said he remembers being part of the Kaag Maagdi gang in his childhood. "But I don't think I have seen it in cities in a long long time. I am not even sure many of today's kids know about this ritual," said Patel.

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