Fireworks, food and culture bring families together during Diwali

After watching the largest firework of the night light up the sky in shades of red and orange, junior Avni Gandhi remembers walking into the kitchen and smelling sugar from the various sweets her family baked in India for Diwali. For Gandhi, this memory represents the excitement she feels when Diwali occurs every fall. 

Chemistry teacher Supriya Moore also remembers the fireworks as a highlight of Diwali celebrations, even detailing the specific events preceding the lighted display.

“It was a whole big process of making a list about what we want to buy for the fireworks and then going to the shop and buying them and storing them and looking at them every day and being like, ‘Oh my gosh I’m gonna set them off on Diwali at night,’” Moore said. “That was the most exciting part for kids.” 

As a child, Moore also used to participate in the religious aspects of the holiday and recalls the historical significance of Diwali as being the celebration of the “victory of good over evil” in Hindu mythology. Stemming from the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana, Diwali marks the day that Prince Rama returned to his kingdom of Ayodhya after being banished for 14 years. To celebrate his arrival, thousands of lamps were lit. 

Junior Kushagra Srivastava also places emphasis on the religious elements of the celebration, which he says begins with prayers, or “puja,” and includes wearing ornate Indian outfits to light firecrackers, eating traditional Indian food and spending time with family. He explains that partaking in each of these traditions is what makes Diwali so memorable.

Moore also considers family to be an important aspect of Diwali celebrations. Because some of her relatives live in the Bay Area, Moore views Diwali as an occasion to reconvene with her family and celebrates with the mentality, “the more the merrier.”  

Similarly, Srivastava enjoys the celebratory aspects of Diwali, but also finds a deeper meaning in the holiday.  

I think [Diwali has] tied me back to my culture at home,” Srivastava said. “Being in America it’s sometimes difficult to have that kind of connection, so through celebrating you feel more a part of the culture. It gives me a place, where by celebrating Diwali I feel like I’m giving back to my community, or I feel like I’m part of something greater, in a sense, morally, at least.”