Canberrans are embracing Diwali- a festival of light

by Ajoy Kar | November 10, 2018 1:24 pm

‘Canberrans are embracing Diwali’, said Gai Brodtmann, a member of the Australian House of Representatives.  In an interview with Ekushey Radio at the Diwali Mela (Festival) in Canberra, MP Brodtmann said Canberrans are very familiar with ‘Holi’ and are embracing Diwali. Canberrans will become more familiar with Diwali as time goes on.  To her, Diwali is an opportunity to contemplate the lightness taking over darkness and the good taking over evil. She said, in this troubled world it is important that we reflect in an optimistic way that good will overcome evil.

On Sunday, 4 November 2018, Canberra’s Punjabi community organisation (Punjabi Touch Entertainment) organised this year’s Diwali Mela at the Canberra Theatre Forecourt which was also attended by ACT’s Multicultural Minister Chris Steel MLA and shadow Multicultural Minister Elizabeth Kikkert MLA.

 

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ACT Multicultural Minister Chris Steel said Diwali is a fantastic highlight of the calendar here in Canberra. We have so many communities but the Indian community puts on a real show every year for Diwali. The Indian community celebrates its diversity with the whole community, and that is something we all can own in Canberra.

The light always overcomes darkness and that’s what Diwali is all about, said the ACT Shadow Multicultural Minister Elizabeth Kikkert. She said that there always be hope and there always be light in our lives. Whether something horrific happens or something small happens in our lives we always know that light always overcomes darkness. Diwali is always about good overcoming evil. Diwali adds value to the community because it brings out the goodness in people, it brings out dancing, it brings out music, and the food, everybody wants to be part of that – it is a very beautiful thing.

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According to Shorya Prasar, one of the organizers of this year’s Diwali Mela, said Diwali is not about religion but like getting all of the community together. It’s not just a celebration of Indian festival. Basically when you are very far from your birth country, you just need an option where you can meet your nearby friends and feel like you’re in your birth country. So Canberra’s Diwali Mela is a very good platform to get everyone together from different communities, not just from India, from Pakistan too. We have so many friends from Pakistan who also come to Diwali Mela every year and they feel there is something for them in the Mela.  

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Source URL: https://priyoaustralia.com.au/articles/2018/canberrans-are-embracing-diwali-a-festival-of-light/

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