Diwali Comes to America as a cool VIP, a Rock Star

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The Indian-Americans

Diwali Comes to America as a cool VIP, a Rock Star

Diwali has finally arrived! It is being hosted and honored by President Joe Biden at the White House, by VP Kamala Harris in the Vice president’s mansion, by New York Mayor Eric Adams at Gracie Mansion and by movers and shakers across America. Diwali is the cool festival with Vogue throwing Indian dress parties and hundreds of high-powered Indian-Americans invited to these celebrations in the corridors of power.

As President Biden said as he welcomed Indian-Americans to the most important house in America – the White House: “On this day, we give thanks for the optimism, courage, and empathy demonstrated by the incredible South Asian community all across America. Together, South Asian Americans reflect the soul of who we are as a nation, whether helping us emerge stronger from this pandemic, building an economy that works for everyone, or serving and protecting our communities and our country.”

He added a clear-eyed note of reality: “But, even as we celebrate this gathering of light, we know—as this community has experienced too often—that there is always darkness lurking. American history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that that we have never fully lived up to it. By marking the victory of light over darkness, Diwali is a reminder that each of us has the power to bring light to the world, whether here in America or around the world.”

And he concluded with an appreciation which was probably music to the ears of a community that has heard harsh words and experienced difficult struggles too in its immigrant journey in an America which has not always been open to the colors of a changing country. “Thank you for making this celebration of Diwali such a joyous part of American culture.  As we see it across the country: opening homes and hearts and exchange gifts and sweets, and hosting feasts for family and friends, organizing cultural programs that bring us together as a people. You know, through all that you contribute, as well beyond, in every part of American life, thank you.  Thank you for reflecting the soul of who we are as a nation.”

President Joe Biden and the First Lady Host a Reception to Celebrate Diwali

For Indian immigrants and their American-born children, it’s been like waking from an amazing, fanciful dream and realizing that this is no dream. After years of struggle, Diwali is acknowledged as a rock star and Indians have arrived.

Friends tell me that when they came to America 40 or 50 years back, there was not a diya to be had. They would be creative and buy small clay pots from gardening supply stores and use them to light up their homes. If they put Christmas lights people thought they were weird and putting the lights on too early. There were few temples, just home shrines in family basements and this is where friends would gather and try to create a community. As for mithai – there were no stores selling Indian sweets and women would make gulab jamun and barfi at home, often from their mother’s recipes.

And now suddenly, Diwali has burst like a giant firecracker all over America. Like a big Bollywood extravaganza it is everywhere – in schools, libraries, in party spaces and in the corridors of power. Indians are in almost every state and their children are in schools and the workplace, and yes, almost everyone seems to have an Indian doctor or an Indian teacher or tech consultant. There are also so many mixed marriages in America where faiths and cultures come together.

Diwali is just about everywhere – mainstream Americans suddenly know how to pronounce the tongue twister – they say it with a lilt and everyone is wishing you, which is kind of nice. They know not only about the festival but slowly it is infiltrating into the fabric of the country and becoming a part of the American scene.

It is a wonderful thing for our children and grandchildren, to not have that ache in their hearts on Diwali day, trudging to work without anybody understanding what it was all about. And children, having to go to school, just like any regular day and even a little reluctant to tell people about it because nobody knew what the strange sounding festival really represented. And if they had gone to a puja, they would try to rub off the the vermilion tikka which was on their foreheads, but now it’s becoming a badge of honor.

And to be Indian is to be part of a celebration which is acknowledged not only by Hindus but by nearly every faith around India and they are able to bring this as a joyful gift to America. Indeed, Indians did not come empty-handed to America. They brought not only their dreams but their dreams for a better world. They brought their hopes, their strengths and their expertise, but they also brought the myths and folklore and their festivals. And now America seems to be open to receiving all that. And Indians couldn’t be happier.

This is happening in many parts of America but being in New York, I saw it firsthand with famous buildings lit up, a blaze of mithai stores and Diwali shops, and an avalanche of Diwali parties. Diwali seems to be on a roll and next year one can expect it to be an even bigger tidal wave of celebrations. And for children the first time in their lives, they will be able to sleep in on a school day and participate in Diwali rituals and really treat the day like a festival, with the Goddess Lakshmi coming to visit. This is really something which their immigrant parents could have only dreamed about.

Perhaps First Lady Dr. Jill Biden said it best and most poetically as she greeted hundreds of Indian-Americans at the White House on Diwali day: “Why celebrate light on the darkest night when the moon is hardest to find?  Because that’s when we need it most — when we realize that even the smallest flame can illuminate our path home, that the sweetest delicacies are made with love, that the most rewarding gifts are those we give to others, and that simple clay lamps, burning together, can outshine any moon.”

She went on to say: “All of us will face darkness at some point, but we are never alone.  And as we chart our path toward the future, this community helps light our way forward, with courage and kindness, with persistence and faith, with love. I’m grateful that, today, these diyas have guided you to this home — a home that belongs to all of you: the White House.”