THE Diwali season in New York has been very charming, bringing diverse Guyanese and other nationalities together. Neighbourhoods have all the wonderful ambience and decorations of a holiday –  fancy, colourful lights that one sees at Christmas brightening the dark night sky.

Over a billion people celebrated the festival worldwide – a national holiday in so many countries. Guyanese and other nationalities came together in communities across Queens, Bronx and Brooklyn in New York to share in the traditional lighting of deyas on Tuesday night, as well as last weekend during celebrations at various locations including at the Dr. Cheddi Jagan Square in Richmond Hill.
Guyanese in other areas in upstate N.Y, Jersey, Florida, etc., also celebrated Diwali. Celebrants of all ages were well dressed in traditional Indian attire – Sherwani, Shalwar Kameez, saris,
lahenga, and kurtas. Non-Indians were also attracted to the festivities and the sharing of traditional meals which are loved by mainstream Americans. As someone penned, the merriment and celebratory vigour are as ubiquitous as the X-Mas season for Christians.

Thirty five years ago, celebrating Diwali outside of the home was nearly impossible. Today, it is common and the lights are still up hanging from rooftops and windows. The week-long celebration is expected to conclude this weekend.

The Diwali celebration in the United States has been made popular by Guyanese immigrants as well as others from other countries and is now incorporated into the social and spiritual milieu of American society.  Mainstream Americans are acculturating it. Many community groups and family homes have hosted colleagues, neighbours, family and friends, to share a Diwali
meal. Unlike in Guyana or Trinidad, businesses have not made the move to host celebrations.
It was wonderful to find that persons of different backgrounds joined
in the celebration of Diwali.
And it made celebrants proud to see messages of Diwali from the President of the U.S. as well as from Governors of so many states, Mayors of many cities, leaders of other local governments, as well as state and local government legislators, and other politicians. This was unimaginable during the 1970s and early 1980s when the Hindu population was very small.  The celebration has been institutionalised by several activists and community advocates such as Dr. Baytoram Ramharack, Vassan Ramracha, Vishnu Bisram (who together organised celebrations at CCNY and at Washington Irving High School), Ramesh Kalicharran, Pandits Ramlall, Nohar Singh, Satish, Upadhyaya, Sukul, and mandirs as well as organisations, pundits, etc., who helped to popularise the celebration.
We hosted pageants and concerts in the early 1980s and lobbied for official recognition from the City. With growing numbers (now some two million Hindus among more than three million Indians including Indo-Caribbeans), the festival is becoming increasingly popular and attracts a large number of non-Indians.
Politicians rush to issue Diwali proclamations and attend celebrations or even host
celebrations in their office or state houses and even the White House.

Diwali is ingrained in the consciousness of so many states as a day of significance.  Americans are learning, as in Guyana, that this day is infused with significance for Hindus and it is transcending religion and race.
In addition to observing the celebration in N.Y, I also visited Trinidad for the Diwali Nagar that concluded on Monday night and met a lot of Guyanese who celebrated the festival and/or attended the nagar. In Trinidad, state offices, the President and the Prime Minister, as
well as MPs and Ministers of government hosted Diwali celebrations in their offices as well as in their communities.
Also, workplaces across Trinidad were the scenes of celebrations with lit deyas and electronic
lights.  The airports (at Piarco and Crowne Point) were covered with decorations. Glowing lights and hanging ornaments filled the lobbies of buildings. There are Diwali skits at the airports and at state offices similar to nativity skits of Christ during the X-mas season.
Official state celebrations in Trinidad were unimaginable just two decades ago.  Thanks to intense lobbying from Hindu organisations such as the Maha Sabha, Society for the Propagation of Indian Culture and individuals such as Vassan Ramracha, Ramdath Jagessar, Doolarchand Hanooman, Ravi-ji Maharaj, Dr. Vijay Narayansingh, Dr. Pandita Indranie Rampersaud, Samaroo Siewah, and Vishnu Bisram, etc.,  recognition has been accorded  Indian cultural events by the government.  Official state celebrations were expanded under the Basdeo Panday administration
(in 1996) and has gotten larger and larger over the years.
In Diwali celebrations, there is acculturation across vast areas of America. Prof Aseem Shukla pens that the quest for a Diwali celebration resonates with the very American ethos of pluralism.  Hindus are one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States numbering some two million and politicians want to court them for campaign donations and votes.
The growth has been tremendous. The Indian-American community has grown dramatically in the United States, more than doubling nationwide over the past 20 years, according
to U.S. census data numbering over three million or about 1% of the population. In New Jersey alone, the population of Indian-Americans has grown from more than 169,000 people in 2000 to 300,000 in 2010, census data shows.
In NY, Indians number over half a million. The U.S. Senate and the House passed a resolution recognising the spiritual and historic significance of Diwali. The White House hosted ceremonies marking Diwali making it part of the official Washington lexicon. Former U.S. President Bush and current President Obama issued messages.  Obama lit lamps to mark the festival. In South Brunswick, Diwali is being recognised as an official school holiday this year, with schools closed in observance. In N.Y, parking rules are suspended. As a result of the growth and recognition, Indian culture has become much more visible, and celebrations such as Diwali observance more common and well attended.
The growth in the Indo-Guyanese American community has pleased many immigrants, especially those who moved to the United States when the presence was not as pronounced.
During the 1970s, it was difficult to find anything as you could in Guyana or Trinidad.  Now, you can get anything you want.
Festivals such as Diwali bring families together.  The children of Guyanese immigrants experience the traditions of their culture.  Although many have never even been to Guyana, they are continuing their parents’ tradition, albeit in their own way. They celebrate festivals in the same traditional ways their Guyana-born parents did. It is a sign that the Guyanese Indian-American community will continue to grow and thrive in the U.S. Diwali has brought the entire community together — Hindus, Muslims and Christians, Africans, Chinese and others as they all came to take in the spectacular sights of the colourful deyas and lights.
I note we have had a period of relative calm in Guyana. May the Diwali season continue to usher in knowledge, wisdom, truth, enlightenment, peace, prosperity, and happiness and may the light overcome evil that is in the minds of many.