Happy Diwali to you and your families! Also, since this is my first article since the 2017 General Election, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported me on my journey as a Labour candidate and at polling booths last month!
During a recent Facebook Live interview with The Indian Weekender, I talked a little bit about my background. I was born in India, brought up in Singapore and moved to New Zealand as a young adult. I grew up in a nuclear family in Singapore.
My parents considered their time in Singapore a temporary stint. For our family, India was home. My childhood was steeped in Indian history, philosophers, food, music, dance and language. I spoke only Malayalam, my mother tongue, till I started kindergarten. For a short while in my early teens, I learnt Sanskrit – that came in handy when I travelled through North India and could read Hindi signs (albeit very slowly)! Yet, my identity and perspectives are undeniably shaped by both India and Singapore – and more recently, New Zealand too.
Growing up without extended family in Singapore meant that I was slightly envious of cousins and friends in India who had more funduring festivals. I was even more envious of North Indian friends who celebrated Diwali with great pomp. Kerala, which is my home state, is the only Indian state that traditionally doesn’t celebrate Diwali on a large scale.
In Singapore, Diwali or Deepavali as it’s more commonly known, is a public holiday. As a child, it was generally a quiet affair with diyas at home and visits to family friends’ homes where we’d eat homemade sweets and play with sparklers.
Singapore has a lovely tradition of open homes during festivals. During the major festivals – Hari Raya (Eid), Chinese New Year and Diwali - families open their homes to friends and colleagues. People wander in and out all day. There’s lots of beautiful food and sweets and often, people exchange presents. Everyone celebrates everything. My friends and I would travel in groups and wander in and out of each other’s homes during Diwali and other festivals. We learnt a lot about different cultures that way.
Some years, we’d pop into the Diwali Mela in Little India. Little India is a part of Singapore that is filled with temples, Indian shops, restaurants and during Diwali, lots of stalls that stay open late into the night selling all sorts of trinkets, clothes, diyas. The air was perfumed with the scents of jasmine and incense. The streets were lit up and Little India would heave with the hustle and bustle of people and the sound of music – usually, a combination of Tamil and Bollywood beats.
Fireworks – except for public displays – are banned in Singapore. Since I’m not used to them I’ve always been a little nervous about lighting them. Furthermore, as a child celebrating Diwali in India, I saw an adult, who was setting them off for us, suffer major burns when he lit faulty fireworks. I’ve never forgotten that night.
Diwali in India is a longer, louder and more elaborate celebration. To me, celebrations in India are reflective of India herself – rich, vibrant, diverse, filled with pomp and inherently beautiful.
Here in New Zealand, we are lucky that we get to publicly celebrate festivals that are important to us. It’s great that we get to share a taste of the festivals of India with the rest of New Zealand. Celebrations like these bring families and communities together.
To all who celebrate Diwali/Deepavali, may the festival of light bring you and your families joy, peace and love.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan is List MP for the New Zealand Labour Party
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