This morning I listened to a lovely interview on CBC Radio Metro Morning with a mother from Saskatchewan and her adult son in Toronto who were talking about the festival called Diwali. This is a key day in Diwali, celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs around the world. Their conversation was mouth-wateringly interesting and they spoke about the themes of "food, family, and prayer" as essential elements of the festival. If I've got this right, Diwali is actually five days but the third -- October 24th this year -- is the most important. It's one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism and symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. " Lamps are lit and fireworks are ignited -- unfortunately a concerning source of air pollution in India.
As a Baby Boomer I grew up clueless about Hinduism and our community was as pasty as can be, without any actual Hindu households I can recall. Anything I knew had to do with prejudices rather than becoming better informed about another religious tradition. I'm glad this has changed over time, The past two years there has been a celebration of Diwali here in Belleville, the big town or small city of 55,000. It grew signficantly from one year to the next with more than 1,000 participants at Zwick's Park this year. The participation by the wider community must be heart-warming for the growing number of Asian students at our local college as well as longer term residents. Snooping around I see that a possible greeting for this day is:
On this auspicious day of Diwali, let us celebrate the victory of good over evil and the triumph of light over darkness. Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali!”
2 comments:
We could all stand to learn more about the special festivals of other religions.
You're right, Judy, especially when the food is often so good!
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