We Are the Lamp and the Wick) is an Indian television soap opera that aired on StarPlus from 29 August 2011 to 10 September 2016 and comprised 1,487 episodes.

[5] Set on the backdrop of Pushkar, Rajasthan, Diya Aur Baati Hum focused on breaking the stereotypical image of women in rural India by showing the inspirational journey of Sandhya Rathi, whose ambition is to become an IPS officer.

[6] A sequel series, Tu Sooraj Main Saanjh, Piyaji starring Rhea Sharma and Avinesh Rekhi, aired from 3 April 2017 to 1 June 2018.

Sooraj Rathi, a partially-educated and simple young master-confectioner is the perfect elder heir to his middle-class traditional family in Pushkar, Rajasthan.

Her brother Ankur fixes her marriage to Sooraj whose strict mother, Santosh, wants a simple and uneducated daughter-in-law, with the excellent skills of a housewife.

She helps Sooraj win an international cooking competition in Singapore and manages to save Pushkar from a terrorist attack.

As Sooraj dreams of opening a big hotel and works for it with Sandhya, she is appointed for an extremely perilous mission Mahabhali, to defeat a dangerous terrorist in his territory in West Bengal, faking her identity as Sagarika.

Sandhya's mangal sutra and Sooraj's chain becomes entangled in the water before the setting Sun, highlighting that even death cannot separate them.

20 years back I read a story in a newspaper that talked about a common man – a panipuri seller helping his wife become a civil servant.

I just based my show Diya Aur Baati Hum on this incident, which was still afresh in my memory.Speaking about the series before its premiere, Nitin Vaidya, the Business Head of StarPlus then said, "It's undeniable that in India, traditionally the women's role is seen as bride, wife or mother, within the geographical parameters of her home.

This show aims at breaking that mold and raising public acceptance of women stepping out of their homes towards self-fulfillment.

Diya Aur Bati Hum is another testimony of Star Plus' programming ethos – 'Rishta Wahi, Soch Nayi (Same relationship, different thinking)'.

[20] In the same month, it was announced that Bollywood singers Javed Ali and Shilpa Rao would record a song for an upcoming sequence.

[21] In September 2015, for the track of Mission Mahabali, six sets of each dress were made for the cast during the outdoor shoot owing unpredictable weather change and rains.

[22] Gautam Gulati quit the series in September 2014 for participating in Bigg Boss 8 and was replaced by Karan Goddwani as Vikram.

[23] In December 2014, Neelu Vaghela playing Santosh decided quit the series owing health issues and her death sequence was also shot.

[28] In April 2015, Randeep Rai, who was cast for the role Adult Chotu, quit the series in few months and was replaced by Kunal Khosla in January 2016.

[35] Within seven months, the sequel titled as Tu Sooraj Main Saanjh, Piyaji premiered and aired from 3 April 2017 to 1 June 2018 for 365 episodes.

On 3 March 2016, Diya Aur Baati Hum's lead actress Deepika Singh as Sandhya made an entry in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai.

Anas Rashid as maa ka laadla (mother's favorite) Sooraj is likable and Deepika Singh as Sandhya is raw but earnest.

"[56] Diya Aur Baati Hum maintained its number one position mostly on the ratings charts from the beginning till it completed 1000 episodes.

[61] The series opened with a low rating of 1.9 TVR in its debut week, but soon increased and entered top ten Hindi GECs.

[91] The series had a tough fight with Kumkum Bhagya for the top spot which aired at the rival channel Zee TV during same time slot after it premiered in April 2014.

[92] When Kumkum Bhagya premiered, Diya Aur Baati Hum, the top show in its time slot saw a decrease of 22% of its viewership in that week, after which Kumkum's viewership started increasing gradually and soon beat Diya Aur Baati Hum for number one pushing it to second.

[108] In the UK, Diya Aur Baati Hum was consistently one of the most watched Indian television shows, with more than 200,000 viewrs.

Owing to Diya Aur Baati Hum's huge popularity, Municipal Corporation and Government of Rajasthan renamed a lane in Pushkar as Hanuman Gali.

[112] Speaking about it actress Neelu Vaghela who played Santosh said, "Apparently, the show has a great viewership and tourists who visited Pushkar often used to go searching for Hanuman Galli and ask for Sooraj and his jalebi shop.

But now, as I stood at the same place, the whole crowd present over there was cheering for me and their reactions made me feel so special,"[112] The poster of the series and the main leads are found in the shops in the areas of Pushkar and Jaipur owing its popularity.

Owing its popularity, the creators of the show launched a sequel series named Tu Sooraj Main Saanjh, Piyaji with the leads Anas Rashid and Deepika Singh not being part of it.

[116] It starred Rhea Sharma as Kanak, the grown up daughter of Sooraj and Sandhya and Avinesh Rekhi as Uma Shankar.