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This article was written
as a result of HAF's efforts to educate journalists about
Hinduism and Hindu issues and encourage accurate and positive
coverage of our community.
The
following article was published in the following newspapers:
Oakland Tribune, Tri-Valley Herald, San Mateo County Times,
The Argus, Daily Review,
Marin Independent Journal, Alameda Times-Star, Vallejo Times-Herald.
The article is being reproduced
with permission of the ANG Newspapers.
Shining
a light on the Hindu festival Diwali
By Candace Murphy
STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Imagine a favorite holiday.
Perhaps it's Thanksgiving. Passover. Christmas.
Now imagine if that holiday
never appeared on the calendar. No one other than you, your
family and your like-minded friends even knew it existed.
The bulk of the community treated it like any old day: just
24 hours out of the 8,760 in a year.
For the most part, that's
what it's like every autumn in the Indian American community
when it comes time to celebrate Diwali. Observed in October
or November (more precisely, it falls on the 15th day of the
dark fortnight of the Hindu month of Kartik, or the last day
of the last month in the lunar calendar), Diwali is the Hindu
festival of lights. It's the most significant religious holiday
in the Indian American community.
And it's today.
"Some people might
say that every day is a festival of some sort in India,"
says Mihir Meghani, a Fremont-based physician who is also
president of the year-old Hindu American Foundation. "But
Diwali is definitely the main holiday."
As the festival of lights,
Diwali is traditionally celebrated these days by gathering
for a feast, wearing new clothing, setting off fireworks and
either lighting candles or stringing up lights. It's New Year's
Eve, basically, and the time to wish others a happy New Year.
And while Diwali passes
mostly unnoticed on these shores, that's not the case in
other communities that have
large Hindu populations. In Trinidad, Guyana, Nepal, Malaysia,
Singapore, the island of Bali, the United Kingdom and more,
Diwali is, for lack of a better word, huge.
"Christmas, Hannukah,
Yom Kippur, even Kwanzaa is now nationally recognized,"
says Neha Shah, 30, who just moved to Coral Springs, Fla.,
from Cupertino. "Diwali is a holiday that's so central
and important, but really, very little is known about it outside
our community."
In an effort to bring Diwali
to the attention of more Americans, the Hindu American Foundation
has made an appeal to Congress to make Diwali the first Hindu
festival day to be honored in the United States. And on Oct.
5, New York Congressman Joseph Crowley introduced Resolution
816 to recognize the historical and cultural significance
of the day.
"It's very important
to us that Diwali be recognized," says Meghani, 32. "It's
important not that everyone follow it, or celebrate it, but
that they understand it. We're a mild community. We're not
asking for time off work ... just that people know about Diwali
instead of only finding out about it from a random story in
the newspaper."
As is the case with most
historically rich cultures, Diwali's roots run deep in the
Indian community.
Diwali, a variation of the
Sanskrit word Deepavali, refers to the rows of earthen lamps
that celebrants place around their homes. Hindus believe that
the light from the lamps represent the dispelling of ignorance,
and the illumination of truth.
While that's the significance
of Diwali to Hindus, the day is also important to Sikhs and
Jains. Knowledgeable holiday celebrants realize that the Sikhs
are reveling in the release of the Sixth Guru, Hargobind,
from captivity by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir. Jains, meanwhile,
commemorate Diwali as the day Lord Mahavira, the last of the
Tirthankaras, attained Nirvana after his death in 527 BC.
Lost? Well, so are those
speed-shoppers on Dec. 24 who are scrambling to buy last-minute
gifts. Far from their minds is that the following morning
is an homage to the birth of Baby Jesus, at least in Christian
circles.
The point is, Diwali, like
Christmas, is important to different people for different
reasons.
"This resolution introduced
by Congressman Crowley captures the essence of its spiritual
and historical importance to Hindus, Jains and Sikhs,"
praised Aseem Shukla, a member of the HAF board of directors.
The ultimate hope is that
Americans become more aware of how Diwali is celebrated. That
Diwali is when women wear colorful saris, or men dress in
either a traditional kurta or a dhoti. That Diwali is when
homes are awash in candlelight, or when wealthy homes are
lit up by neon as they are in India. That Diwali is when sweets
are exchanged and fireworks are ignited.
Shah, celebrating her first
Diwali in Florida as well as the first Diwali with her 9-month-old
son, Keshaz, plans to invite people over for a big feast and
decorate the house with strings of lights.
"They're sold as Christmas
lights," says Shah, "but to us, they're Diwali lights."
Perhaps in time, the rest
of the country will be similarly illuminated.
"A country like U.K.
seems to be five or 10 years ahead of us -- the House of Commons
has a big celebration of Diwali," says Meghani. "Maybe
we'll be there in five or 10 years ourselves."
You can e-mail Candace Murphy
at cmurphy@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4814.
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