Celebrating Diwali ‘Reminds Us to Create Our Own Light’

After a long, hard year, the Festival of Lights is a welcome reset

Photo: India Photography/Getty Images

After an exhausting year dominated by a pandemic and an equally tiring election cycle rife with racist and xenophobic attacks, a weekend of new beginnings and celebration feels overdue.

Enter Diwali.

Also known in the West as the Festival of Lights, this celebration will be observed this year by millions of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists on Saturday, November 14 as one of our biggest holidays. Others will observe Bandi Chhor Diwas, the biggest holiday of the year for Sikhs. And for many that applaud Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ South Asian parentage, this year’s Diwali portends the possibility of such celebrations becoming the norm in the White House and across the country.

Whether you’re just learning about Diwali or are a longtime observer putting a new twist on old traditions, here’s what you can do to commemorate the day:

• Celebrate and reflect on the past year. Diwali is observed as the Hindu New Year, and many see it is a fresh start by donning new clothes or buying gold and new utensils. “My favorite part of Diwali is being together as a family,” says Ankit Jain, who is celebrating in Virginia. “We have a tradition of writing down the biggest events that happened to us every year. It feels like a time for us to all get together and take stock of the past year.”
• Clean house. On Diwali night, it is said that Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, visits the households of those celebrating. In preparation, South Asian families typically scour their homes, an undertaking that won’t go amiss as we spend more time inside than ever, and draw rangolis on the ground to welcome guests.
• Bring in some light. An old Hindi teacher once explained to me that South Asians traditionally lit diyas and cleaned their homes to stop the spread of mosquitoes after the monsoon season as the earthen lamps drew mosquitoes to their hot oil and acted as a natural insecticide. Now, many South Asians light diyas and string their houses with Christmas lights to guide and entice Lakshmi into the home and bring prosperity.
• Eat all the desserts. “Unfortunately, I…