Diwali certainly counts as one of Fiji’s biggest festivals. The festival of lights that celebrates the triumph of good over evil is a designated public holiday in the country’s calendar.
People of Indian descent, who around the country’s independence from British rule in 1970 made up a shade over half of its population, have kept alive many traditions from the mother country and Diwali is one of the best instances of that.
Fiji Indians trace their ancestry to different parts of India including its northern, eastern and southern states. And though Diwali is celebrated slightly differently in every region in India, the Fiji Indians have synthesised these differences in a single way that they all celebrate.
Like everywhere else in India and other many other countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia where Diwali is celebrated, in Fiji too, lights, feasting, gifting and fireworks are an integral part of the celebrations.
Diwali is one Indian festival where there is equal if not more emphasis on rejoicing rather than religious ritual. But like the religious rituals that are observed in households in Hindu households around the world, Fiji Indians also perform pujas in the run up to Diwali day.
In fact, in the run up to Diwali, Fiji Indians scrupulously avoid meat and turn completely vegetarian more than most Indians in India would. And in many of the households, the pujas are as elaborate if not more than they are in the average household in India. In that sense, in Fiji the emphasis on ritual in Fiji is quite pronounced.
Around Diwali, the news media in Fiji is awash with advertising from white and brown goods retailers because of the strong desire in Indians to buy new things – be it clothes, gadgets or cars – just as in India.
Most companies host Diwali functions with all Fijians participating. Fiji is more multicultural than many other Pacific Island nations with a mix of indigenous Fijians, people of Indian extraction, Europeans, Chinese, other Pacific Islanders and a sizeable population of people with mixed heritage. It is interesting to see the country’s entire ethnic mix celebrate Diwali.
When we lived in Fiji, I recall visiting several homes of friends and colleagues at the University of the South Pacific over Diwali. Some of them hosted elaborate parties and vied with one another in laying out endless spreads of sweets and savouries.
The Indian High Commission also hosted a Diwali party for the diplomatic corps and Indians working in Fiji, of which there is always a significant number both in academia and the private sector. In addition, the three big Indian companies in Fiji that have been around for more than half a century – The Life Insurance Corporation, Bank of Baroda and New India Assurance – had their own Diwali functions as well.