Culture: Commemorating the Diwali festival |06 November 2021
Diwali is known as the festival of lights and celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil, light over darkness. It brings about a feeling of unity as the young and old of all races join together to celebrate this wonderful festival – Uma Ramani
In commemoration of Diwali, from November 2-6 this year, Seychelles NATION spoke to Uma Ramani, who shares with us her experiences of celebrating this festival, both in India and in Seychelles, and talks about the significance of Diwali during the pandemic.
She also treats our readers to a special recipe for those who want to bring some tradition and flavour into their homes for Diwali.
Seychelles NATION: You told us that as a child, you celebrated Diwali in a very special way; tell us about this.
Uma Ramani: Diwali or Deepavali – this word immediately takes me back to my childhood days in India. Our house used to smell divine with aromas of the various sweets and savouries that were being made to share with family and friends.
Photo sources: World Nomads and Curly Tales
Preparations for Diwali would start at least a week in advance. The complete cleaning, sorting out of old clothes to be donated, shopping for new clothes with family, anticipating the amount of fire crackers and sparklers that each one of us would get, the traditional clay oil lamps that were lit along the boundary walls of our home, the noise of the fire crackers ‒ all this and a lot more would make Diwali the extremely special occasion that it is.
Seychelles NATION: What are Diwali celebrations like for you now as an adult living in Seychelles?
Uma Ramani: Here in Seychelles, the mood is differently set. The excitement and anticipation is limited to the home-made or store-bought sweets and new clothes. Sharing of sweet goodies with friends and family becomes the highlight of the day for us.
Nevertheless, we try hard to uphold the tradition so that the younger generation who consider themselves more of a Seychellois (which is perfectly fine, because they have lived and grown up here), remain in touch with their roots, culture and tradition. I believe that such traditional celebrations also teaches them about the importance of being a family and taking care of each other.
Seychelles NATION: You mentioned that Diwali marks the victory of good over evil, light over darkness. What, in your opinion, is the significance of Diwali during the Covid-19 pandemic?
Uma Ramani: I believe that this Diwali is more significant than any other recent ones because we, the human race, continue in our resilient fight to conquer the dreaded coronavirus.
We haven’t lost hope, health care professionals and other front line workers around the globe continue to shed their sweat and blood in this fight, all in the hope that this too shall pass and that we will stand victorious yet again. This is the true essence of Diwali – Victory of Good over Evil – we continue to witness this until today.
This Diwali, I wish that each and every one of us could be a little bit more compassionate, sensitive to others’ feelings, less judgmental, and a lot more appreciative and thankful for what we have.
*In honour of Diwali, Ms Ramani is happy to share a special recipe with our readers, one that she says she enjoys cooking for her son.
Dal Makhni – Spiced Black Lentil in a Creamy Tomato Base
Photo source: Cook Republic
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 4
Ingredients:
- Black Urad Dal, 250 grams
- Butter, 60 grams
- Coriander powder, 1 tbsp
- Cream, 1 cup
- Cumin, 1 tsp
- Garam masala, whole or powder, 1 tsp
- Ginger garlic paste, 2 tbsp
- Kidney beans, 50 grams
- Oil, 1 tbsp
- Red chilli powder, 10 grams
- Salt to taste
- Tomatoes pureed, 5
- Turmeric powder, ¼ tspn
Instructions:
- Thoroughly wash black urad dal and kidney beans and then soak them in water (2 glasses) for about a few hours. Cook till dal is cooked to a consistency suitable for mashing.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan.
- Add cumin, garam masala (optional) (you can skip garam masala and add a little garam masala powder at last).
- Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric and tomato puree. Cook well for 10 minutes in a medium flame, covered.
- Add chilli powder and salt. Cook until the mixture thickens into a pulpy sauce (about 3 minutes).
- Add cooked dal and kidney beans to the mixture. Heat for 4-5 minutes. You can add a little water if you find it too thick.
- Add the remaining butter and cream and cook for 10 minutes. Dal Makhni is ready to serve.
F. P.
