Corner Brook lights up with start of Diwali celebrations
Food, music and dance marked the annual festival of lights
Deepti Mhaske is celebrating Diwali with her parents for the first time in four years.
For her, and Indians across the world, Diwali is as significant as Christmas is in Newfoundland and Labrador. The recent Memorial University graduate plans to make Corner Brook her new home.
"It's very surprising and it's very amazing at the same time that you get to do what you used to do back home. Especially this year as my parents are here and I have made Diwali sweets," Mhaske told CBC News.
She's part of the over 120 Indians that gathered at Saint Michael and All Angels Anglican Church on Tuesday to celebrate the annual festival.
The celebrations included food, music and dance from all parts of India. For many, it was a chance to connect with community members and practise their culture and traditions.
Mhaske was one of the event's main organizers.
She says Diwali is a festival of lights, open to people of all religions and cultures.
"It's just to celebrate the victory of Rama, Lord Ram. They had lights everywhere and that's the reason people celebrate Diwali," says Mhaske.
Mhaske says the celebrations start with crackers and fireworks. That's followed by making food, including homemade sweets.
Saravanesh Ajayakumar, who recently moved to Corner Brook, cooked a different dish. He's from south India, a region with its own unique identity and culture.
Ajayakumar prepared sambar rice, a combination of dal and rice.
"I also tested it. It was OK, good, so I'm happy about that," Ajaykumar said.
"It's boiled to the same level of consistency like mashed potato. But it's all done without mashing it. It's done all through the steaming that's been happening during the process. That's the simple procedure. Add spices, add vegetables, add rice and dal cooked together to consistency where it becomes like a porridge. Then it's all good."
Terri Parrill has lived her whole life in Corner Brook. She's part of the congregation at Saint Michael and All Angels. The spicy food is something new for her.
"I tasted most of it as it's really spicy and not quite to our palette probably, but it was an adventure in taste testing and I appreciated every mouthful that I put in," she said. "But I was more prone to eat the sweet things rather than the spicy things."
She said she's enamoured by the culture.
"To me, it's reminiscent of a kitchen party, especially around Christmas time when the mummers come in."
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