Guyanese in N.Y. prepare for Deepavali
By Vishnu Bisram
Stabroek News
November 3, 2002
Guyanese Hindus in the New York metro region are gearing up to celebrate Deepavali, the joyous festival of lights. Entertainment and spiritual activities have been planned to observe the occasion in the Queens area.
Several cultural concerts and Deepavali beauty pageants as well as religious services and motorcades have been planned for this weekend in New York and some have already been held. The famous singer Mahendra Kapoor is being hosted by the Teen Murthi Mandir. The charming actress Karisma Kapoor was the guest of honour at the Deepavali Pageant last weekend hosted by Guyanese Deeraj Gayaram.
Also, several politicians have issued greetings and messages to the community.
One can tell Deepavali is around the corner by the elaborate preparations Hindus are making for the occasion. Lawns are mowed and homes are being spruced up and decorated on the outside with multi-coloured electronic lights and garlands of artificial flowers. Also large numbers of multi-coloured diyas and other paraphernalia are on display on the sidewalks in front of stores on Liberty Avenue. These can also be bought in other areas where Guyanese traditionally shop such as the Liberty, Hillside, Cypress Hill, Westchester, and Jamaica Avenues. An aura of celebration is in the air on Liberty Avenue, Richmond Hill, the hub of not only Guyanese but Caribbean religious and commercial activities as well. The Guyanese stores as well as the avenue itself are well decorated as if it were the Christmas season. Religious music at full blast emanates from many of the Stores. There is a shopping spree on Deepavali-related items. Many are purchasing new traditional clothing (kurtas, saris, shalwars, lehengas, etc.). Many are buying up new food items and religious paraphernalia such as wicks, ghee, agarbati, religious cassettes, and diyas. And many Hindus I spoke with said they have been fasting and abstaining from meat, fish, eggs, sex and alcohol.
Guyanese homes are immaculately clean on the exteriors; pavements are also kept clean in front of their homes just as in Guyana.
Fallen dried leaves, the sign of fall, are picked up and lawns trimmed.
Although Deepavali this year falls six weeks before Christmas and Hanukah, Guyanese Hindus say they do not feel out of place about lighting flickering lights associated with Christmas. The festival does not have official recognition as a public holiday as in Guyana. But many Hindus plan to take the day off from work to observe the occasion and some hope to send a message that “we should gain official recognition”. Many companies which have large numbers of Hindu employees will give them time off with pay to celebrate the festival.
And in other cases, the American-owned businesses plan to close up early as a mark of respect to their Hindu employees.
Also, school children will be excused from school on Deepavali day. Separately, Hindu organisations have lobbied the city for a suspension of parking rules for the occasion.
The Indo-Caribbean media is also promoting the festival. Many of the ethnic radio and television programs aired Deepavali songs last weekend and plan to do so again this weekend as a prelude to the event. The Pradeep Kumar TV programme which broadcasts daily in the mornings, has been showing Deepavali clips as are the other Guyanese TV programmes. Also, Caribbean weekly newspapers have been carrying advertisements with greetings from several businesses. Even American CitiBank is running a Deepavali greeting in one of the Caribbean ethnic newspapers.
The Deepavali celebration will culminate on Monday evening with the lighting of diyas. In previous years, rows of diyas were placed in front of many homes.
The lighting will take place at dusk which in this early winter season will be around 5 p.m., after prayers at home, virtually all the Guyanese temples plan to hold evening services and Guyanese are expected to flock to their mandirs.
Also, on Sunday evening, there will be a ceremony using electronic lights on Liberty Avenue.