By JANICE RATESHWAR
For the first time ever, Jericho Schools were closed in commemoration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
Growing up, my family has always kept a balance between celebrating American holidays and Indian holidays. However, we always celebrated Diwali on a larger scale. Our tradition is to invite all of our friends and family over to pray for blessings in the upcoming year. It’s something we always look forward to. However, after a long day of school and worrying about tests and quizzes, it became increasingly harder to fully enjoy myself.
Normally on Diwali, I would return home after an after school club and enter into a world full of delicious aromas, musical laughter, and hectic preparations. My mom would have my dresses and jewelry laid out on my bed, and I would quickly change. After that, we would leave for the temple with parsad, or holy food to offer the gods. Once we arrived, we would meet friends and family and pray together for an auspicious new year. This would be followed by a celebration at a close relative or family friend’s house. Time would be ticking and ticking, and I would start to get more and more worried about when I would be able to finish up my homework or study. It was already such a busy day, but after all of these social events, I would accompany my mother to her office in the city to pray for the prosperity of her career in the upcoming year. By the time I would get home, it would be 1 or 2 a.m. This severely hindered my learning for the next day because I was completely exhausted.
This year, however, with no school in session for Diwali, I was able to truly enjoy my day. In the morning, I woke up to the delectable smell of my grandma’s special rice pudding. After a traditional Indian breakfast, my family and I prayed for good fortune at my mother’s office. Many of my mother’s coworkers wished us a happy new year and gifted us sweets. By the time we got home it was a little past lunch time, leaving us plenty of time to meet up with friends and the rest of our family. At our family friend’s house, we danced, laughed and discussed the importance of Diwali. After leaving their place, we rejoiced with our cousins. Our family dinner was followed by an iridescent celebration of sparklers.
By having a day off on Diwali, we were able to have a more relaxed and enjoyable holiday. I am so delighted that this year I had more time to spend celebrating my culture, and to feel more rested after all of the events for the next school day. As a child, the dilemma of balancing school with Diwali was hard to handle, but I’m glad that Jericho’s Hindi students will not have to struggle with the same challenges as I did. Most importantly, I feel having Diwali recognized by the school district increases the respect and awareness of the Hindu culture in the Jericho community.
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