Senators’ Statements: Celebrating Diwali

Honourable colleagues, I rise to wish you all a very happy Diwali. Tomorrow night, close to 1.4 million Indo-Canadians will be lighting up their homes to usher in the New Year, but not just in Canada. The Indian diaspora is spread all over the world, and its 31 million members, almost as large as our population, will one way or the other celebrate the victory of good over evil in places as far away as Chile, Indonesia and, of course, in India.

Diwali holds very special memories for me. I remember the preparations that took weeks to get ready for the five full days of celebration: whitewashing the home, preparing the many foods, gathering the gifts, and, of course, going to the town square where the big effigy of the devil, I think, was lit up and it would explode with a gazillion fireworks. It was quite amazing. On Diwali day, I would help my grandfather line the parapets of the home with little oil lamps and we would fill the lamps. After that was done, because he was a merchant, we would traipse down to the city centre. He would give us children crisp rupee notes because, as I hope you all know, Indians, for the largest part, are very practical people, and we like to worship prosperity and wealth.

At night, the whole city was lit up, and there were firecrackers everywhere. From the eyes of a child, it was indeed the most wondrous evening of the year.

Keeping these traditions alive far away from home, on a day that is not a national holiday, at a time of the year when the weather is not exactly friendly, is not simple, but we adapt. We light up our homes with string lights. There are no firecrackers, but instead we go to our children’s schools and explain Diwali to other children. And we give loonies and toonies to them instead of crisp rupee notes and so keep age old traditions alive.

Diwali, like many festivals of other religions, is now much more of a cultural event than a religious event. It shares a core message with other religions of the world: goodness shall prevail over evil, light will overshadow darkness, knowledge will conquer evil, and hope will overcome despair.

I hope to bring a little bit of that light, cheer and beauty to you today. Please join me in my office when the chamber rises tonight for some cheer. Thank you very much.