Bhawna Atmaram
As darkness slowly envelopes rooftops and streets, a single clay lamp flickers into life. It is small, fragile, yet defiant against the night. This is Diwali—the Festival of Lights—a ritual of illumination, in which individuals and communities pause to remember, renew, and reassert hope. In our times of uncertainty, Diwali offers something more than pretty lights: it offers a symbol, a bridge between past and present, faith and reason, community and self.
Diwali’s roots are ancient and manifold. The Sanskrit dipavali means ‘row of lamps,’ a simple phrase that holds centuries of story. Historically, the festival marked the end of the harvest season, the turning of the year in lunar calendars, the ritual cleansing of homes and fields, and the closing of cycles.
One of Diwali’s deepest transformations in modern times is its openness. In many Mauritian neighbourhoods, Diwali becomes a communal festival: lights go up in public spaces, invitations extend across faiths, sweets are handed out to neighbours irrespective of faith.
Diwali in Mauritius: A festival of unity and renewal
In Mauritius, Diwali isn’t just a Hindu holiday—it is an island celebration. It’s a public holiday, a pause in the daily rhythm, a moment when the diverse population shares in light and ritual. Street after street becomes a constellation of lamps, and homes welcome guests with sweets, laughter, and warmth.
For Mauritians of Indian descent, Diwali upholds cultural memory, language, and ritual in a diasporic space. For the nation, it reinforces pluralism: neighbours from different backgrounds step into festivities, invited by light, tradition, and hospitality.
The rows of clay lamps placed on windowsills and courtyards remind us that one light can outshine darkness. The flame dances but persists; symbolising our inner resolve, the light of conscience kept alive in an often dark world.
Cleaning homes, painting walls, drawing rangoli are acts of symbolic purification. In Mauritius, households awake days before Diwali to scrub, sweep, decorate. The intricate rangoli at doorsteps invites auspiciousness and signals openness to new blessings. The evening puja (prayer) to Lakṣmi (often alongside Ganesh) is more than devotion; it symbolises surrender, and generosity. Offerings of sweets and flowers become metaphors for gratitude and the renewal of bonds. Firecrackers traditionally drive away evil spirits, but today they raise questions of health, pollution, and responsibility. Many campaigns now encourage quieter, greener Diwali, generating less disruption and more reflection.
The festival draws from many legends. In North India, it celebrates Rama’s return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and his victory over the demon king Ravaṇa; the city was lit with lamps to welcome him home. In other traditions, it recalls Krishna’s victory over Naraka and the freeing of captives. It is also closely tied to Lakṣmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance, believed to visit homes that are clean, bright, and caring. Over time, the myth and the moral fused: light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance.
In Mauritius, Diwali’s story was carried across oceans by indentured labourers from India in the nineteenth century. On this island, the festival evolved into a shared cultural celebration beyond religion; part of the mosaic pavement that binds communities together. Light, after all, transcends all boundaries.
The Rituals of light: Symbolism in every gesture
The essence of Diwali lies not merely in what we do—lighting diyas, fireworks, rangoli—but in why we do it. Each act becomes a symbol we live.
Festivals like Diwali are crucial in reinforcing collective identity, linking generations, and maintaining a living tradition even in mixed communities and multicultural space. Rituals, food, storytelling, and temple federations become colourful threads, weaving individual lives into the communal tapestry.
Yet Diwali remains a beacon because these challenges sharpen its light. In a world of division, Diwali’s message of unity, inner light, compassion and renewal becomes all the more relevant.
Diwali’s message in the current world
In eras marked by climate anxiety, political discord, pandemics, Diwali’s metaphor endures: when the world seems dark, light matters—every lamp, every good act, every small truth matters. We must promote inner purification over external show. The diya should be lit not to impress but to awaken the soul. The mind must be divested of negativity, allowing value to supersede optics. When we invite neighbours of different faiths and celebrate beyond boundaries, we echo Diwali’s deepest purpose—light is universal. We must exercise responsibility and moderation, whilst celebrating with conscience; less waste, less noise, more awareness. Let generosity replace extravagance.
Diwali is an invitation to awaken light in ourselves, to foster community, and to ask how our traditions serve the present. In Diwali’s flame, I see a call to reclaim depth over display. In the warmth of diya-lit thresholds, I see the fragile bridges between neighbours. In the shared plate of sweets, I see generosity that heals civic fractures. In the void after the lights, I hear a question: What do we do with our light? I would urge my people: keep the soul alive. Light the lamp mindfully. Let rituals be bridges—not walls. Let Diwali be a renewal of purpose. Let the festival be our answer to a world that so often forgets that light matters.
May the lamps we light deepen our vision;
May the darkness we dispel illuminate our paths;
And may the light we share remind us that we are bound in one luminous story.
What political leaders can learn from Diwali
In the soft glow of Diwali lamps, a timeless truth shines: leadership is not about noise and fire, but light and presence. Just as diyas are lit to dispel darkness, leaders must strive to remove ignorance, fear, and division, not deepen them.
Diwali reminds us that even the smallest lamp matters. So too, every policy, every word spoken in Parliament or on a platform, leaves an impact. In a time when trust in leadership flickers, Diwali teaches humility and service. It is not enough to speak of prosperity; one must create spaces where every citizen feels seen, safe, and heard. Like Goddess Lakshmi, true abundance enters only when cleanliness of conscience, intent, and governance is present. May our leaders cleanse not only streets for photo operations but also their commitments, their agendas, and their loyalties. Let them decorate not just offices but hearts with empathy, truth, and responsibility.
And above all, may they remember: a leader’s legacy is not in the firecrackers of applause, but in the quiet lamps they help others light.
Diwali and world peace: Lighting the path within and beyond
In a world increasingly torn by conflict, division, and despair, the message of Diwali could not be more timely. The Festival of Lights is not merely a celebration of lamps and sweets; it is a symbolic act of remembering the power of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and peace over violence. Diwali calls us to pause, to reflect, and to reconnect. Its quiet flames whisper what speeches often forget: that peace begins not in treaties but in hearts; not in declarations, but in everyday decisions.
Each diya we light represents a choice; to illuminate, not to burn. It is a reminder that in times of deep chaos, we must choose compassion over conquest, listening over shouting, dialogue over destruction. If every individual, community, and nation upheld these values, world peace would no longer feel like a dream, but a shared reality in motion. For world leaders and ordinary citizens alike, Diwali is a mirror. It reflects our responsibility to dissolve the shadows we create, be it hatred, injustice, or indifference.
Just as we clean our homes for Lakshmi’s arrival, we must cleanse our minds of prejudice and our systems of inequality. Mauritius, with its rich blend of cultures and peaceful coexistence, shows us that diversity does not divide. Rather, it enriches. Diwali, here, is celebrated across communities. This, too, is peace: when festivals cross religious borders and hearts open with mutual respect.
In the glow of Diwali, may we light the lamps of empathy, tolerance, and shared humanity. Let us teach our children that light is not just what shines, but what saves. That peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of understanding. And may we carry this light beyond our doorsteps, into policy, into schools, into the very language we use with one another. Because the world doesn’t just need light. It needs us to be the light.
