Looking forward to a bright Diwali (October 2022)

Diwali is celebrated because many eons ago Prince Ram was sent into exile for 14 years and his wife joined him. They faced many hardships such as the ten headed villain known as Ravana kidnapping Ram’s wife Sita, Rama rescuing her and killing Ravana. 

When it was time for Ram and Sita to return home, their whole village lit up lights to create a path for them to travel back safely. 

Now every year, Hindus and Sikhs celebrate Diwali (most commonly known as the celebration of good over evil) by lighting candles, setting fireworks and being with family. While Hindu’s from different areas of India celebrate for different reasons, it is still celebrated together. 

After a hard few years with the pandemic, people are finally able to celebrate as they normally did.

Michael Matthews, a 21 year old Brunel University student from South London explains how he will be celebrating Diwali this year. 

“I am excited to celebrate Diwali with friends now because of the pandemic, all the shops will be open and lots of candles will be lit this year. I’ll be going out with friends to Ealing to celebrate during the day and going to the temple for some prayers. At night we will walk around campus to see who is celebrating Diwali with all the candles lit, like how they did it in 2020 before the pandemic”.

The difference between the last few years of Diwali and this year is huge and everyone is very exhilarated. Some have multiple reasons for the excitement of this year's Diwali.

Vivek Majithia, a 20 year old Brunel University student from Portugal says “Normally we all get together at my dad’s sister's house and we will have dinner and some fireworks. This year is different because we will be doing fireworks at our house, making the house full of light and dinner. I’m really excited as it is on the same week as my birthday so the whole week will be filled with festivals.”

With plans forming for this celebration to be perfect this year, people are busy preparing events for all communities that want to be a part of this celebration.

Archan Raval, a 25 year old Vice President for College of Business Arts and Social Sciences from Uxbridge explains that “I am planning and helping societies like Hindu, Sikh, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu, to plan and host an evening with cultural events. Societies within Brunel University like Pakistan and Bangladesh will also be joining.”

While being far from family, others still find a way to have a great Diwali.

Dharna, a 24 year old Brunel University student from Uxbridge says “I am pretty excited. I know for a fact that the University is planning some Diwali celebrations and I will be a part of it for sure. I already have my outfit ready and my parents are sending over some sweets from India. For the last two years we didn’t have much of a celebration because of the pandemic so this year I am really excited.” 

This year will definitely be better than the ones during the Covid period. A large community coming together to celebrate and eat amazing Indian food, and lighting candles everywhere. Fireworks will fill the sky so get ready for a happy Diwali!