DNA Special: India's Diwali goes global

Now we will tell you how Diwali of India has now become a global festival. The way Christmas is celebrated in our country, New Year is celebrated on the night of 31st December, Eid is celebrated all over the world, similarly, this week, people of different religions celebrated Diwali in different countries across the world. Heads of states and representatives of more than 30 countries extended Diwali greetings to India.

US President Joe Biden celebrated Diwali by lighting a lamp in the White House, while Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wished the world a Happy Diwali in Hindi. From Western countries to Middle East countries, this time on Diwali, crackers were also burst and diyas were also lit. Till now, we used to see the world celebrating together only on the occasion of Christmas and New Year. But now, it seems that the world has also adopted the idea of ​​Diwali and its victory of light over darkness.

A bill has also been introduced in the US Parliament, in which there has been a demand to declare Diwali as a national holiday. This bill has been named Deepavali Day Act and if this bill is passed then like in India, there will be a government holiday in America on Diwali. Currently, in states like New York, Pennsylvania and Houston of America, schools are closed on the day of Diwali and the offices of some private companies are also closed, but it is not a national holiday.

The total population of America is 33 crore, of which 40 lakh people are of Indian origin. Accordingly, the share of Indian origin in the total population is only 1.2 per cent, which is very little. But people of Indian origin have a great contribution to America's politics and society there. For example, one out of every 10 engineers in America is of Indian origin. Nine per cent of the doctors are also from this community. And the founder of one out of every three startups is an Indian. 

However, till two decades ago, the festival of Diwali was not celebrated in the White House. It first started in the year 2009, when the then US President Barack Obama celebrated the festival of Diwali by lighting a lamp in the White House. After this, former President Donald Trump also celebrated Diwali during his tenure and now Joe Biden has also acknowledged the historical importance of this festival.

There are many such countries in the world, where the festival of Diwali is a National Holiday. Among them, countries like Malaysia, Fiji, Nepal, Mauritius, Singapore and Sri Lanka are prominent.

In Malaysia, Diwali is called Hari Diwali and on this day, people after bathing with water and oil offer prayers in the temples. The total population of Malaysia is 3.24 crore, of which about 6.5 per cent are Hindus.

Like Malaysia, Diwali is also a national holiday in Singapore and the markets there are specially decorated on this occasion. Other than this, 
Mauritius is also home to about 50 per cent of the Hindu community, so Diwali is celebrated with great enthusiasm there.

According to a report, in 2019, the festival of Diwali was celebrated in more than 90 countries of the world. The important thing to note in this is that there are many of these countries where the Hindu population is negligible.

Today, in 160 countries of the world including India, there is a national holiday on the festival of Christmas. This also includes countries like Egypt, Jordan and Syria, which call themselves Islamic nations. That is, where the population of Christianity is negligible, there are still footprints of their culture and their festivals. And the biggest thing is that people of different religions also celebrate this festival in these countries. You must have seen this happening in India itself.

In fact, when a festival becomes global, it not only transmits its cultural significance to the world but also expands the historical identity of that country. Just as the western countries have been doing till now. For example, many of you must be celebrating Valentine's Day on 14th February every year. But while celebrating Valentine's Day, do you think that it is a Roman festival, which started in the fifth century? Today this festival has become so popular even in a country like India, where there is already a tradition of celebrating more than a thousand small and big festivals every year. This is called the soft power of festivals and Diwali has secured an important place in this.

Although there is also a bitter truth that the world is adopting Diwali, so the people of our own country are forgetting their traditions by getting attracted by modernism. In our country, parents tell their children that Santa Claus brings gifts on the Christmas festival. But they do not tell that Lakshmiji can also bring gifts for them on Diwali. Similarly, the sweets which used to be festive sweets before, have now been replaced by chocolates. Now children prefer to eat chocolates on festivals rather than sweets. These small traditions related to our festivals are being forgotten by the people of our country, but the world is remembering them and adopting them.