A North Shore Diwali

It was a large community effort for one particular Diwali party

I have some wonderful memories of Diwali, the most grandly celebrated festival of Indians. As a child, it was time for joy, plenty of sweet eats, gifts, togetherness, fun and merry-making. Of course I knew festival of delight is actually a festival of light, when all the buildings are illuminated with lights, candles and diyas. Growing up, I understood that the Diwali celebration has a much deeper meaning – it encourages us to acquire inner light, by moving on a spiritual path.

Keeping this in mind and in order to revive personal relationships and social ties, I decided to organise a Diwali get-together this year. The aim was to preserve and maintain our great Indian culture, Indian traditions, art and dance, and ultimately light the lamps of wisdom to help attain that ‘light of lights’ –oneness with God.

On the night, kids, adults and seniors, all clad in exquisite ethnic Indian attire, got together at the St Ives Community Hall at North Shore.

They were greeted by a beautiful rangoli design at the door. A powder painting on the floor created by the community’s well-known poet Maya Narpatsingh, the design reminded us all of the palaces of Rajasthan. It not only signified a welcome to the guests, but also to Goddess Lakshmi, who it is believed, visits our homes on this particular night.

Inside, there were flashing and dazzling lights and colourful Jaipuri chunnis, all beautifully decorated by Veenu and Kavita. The Diwali mood set in almost immediately for the guests!

As they came in, they were received with a tilak on the forehead, thanks to the lehnga-clad Nirali, Bela and Hemi.

Laksmi Poojan was beautifully performed by Panditji.

Om sarveshaam swastir bhavatu

Sarveshaam shantir bhavatu

Sarveshaam poornam bhavatu

Sarveshaam mangalam bhavatu

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah

Sarve santu niraamayaah

Sarve bhadraani pashyantu

Maakaschit duhkha bhaag bhavet

Auspiciousness (swasti) be unto all; peace (shanti) be unto all; fullness (poornam) be unto all; prosperity (mangalam) be unto all.

May all be happy (sukhinah)

May all be free from disabilities (niraamayaah)

May all look to the good of others

May none suffer from sorrow! (duhkha)

All the families participated in the Aarti glorifying the goddess, and everyone was blessed for their good health, happiness and prosperity.

Time for fun and games – and the kids were enthralled by a professional puppet show. They cheered in glee, and some of the bolder children interacted, shook hands and danced with the puppets.

Shobha Ingleshwar who can sing in six languages almost stole the scene with her devotional songs.

Little angels Skye and Pari danced beautifully to Bollywood hits, and Jai Ho by the children of Taal Dance Academy brought the house down.

Older girls from the Nupur Dance Group also won the heaqrts of the audience, as they swayed to Bollywood rhythms in their dressed in their exquisite costumes.

Popular singer Vinod Rajput was a huge hit as always and many sang along, while young artiste Sunanda came impressed with her rendition of classical hits. And wait, there was more! Three lucky ticketholders won attractive gifts in a surprise raffle (drawn out by little Lara).

Delicious, titillating and mouth watering snacks and food were served in abundance and people ate to their heart’s content.

And what is Diwali without fireworks? Of course we had some, but only a small number of very safe ones, and plenty of sparklers, to keep it all ecofriendly.

To add to the fun and masti was Bali’s DJ and Dhol, who opened the floors up for the audience. Children and elders danced to glory tirelessly till late night.

The many non-Indians present on the night (not only from Australia but also from Japan and Malaysia) also enjoyed themselves thoroughly, taking part in every aspect form the poojan to the dancing and of course the eating. It gave them a good feel of our traditions and our hospitality.

An enjoyable night indeed for the families who attended - where parents, children and grandchildren could all rejoice together on the same platform. It was a joint effort of some from our community who came forward to help as they were keen that their children should inculcate Indian traditions and values. Dr Shibani Sahni,Veenu, Anisha, Kripa, Arupa, Kavita, Shweta Kumar, Pankaj Patel, Dr Chirag Patel, Aman Kochar, Vipin Shrama, Kusum Singh and may others worked inexhaustibly with me to make this a happening, marvellous and memorable event and also rendered great support in making this a happy Diwali for us all.