KUCHING: The Indian community in Sarawak is enveloped in the excitement of Deepavali, or Diwali, as they actively finalise their preparations to celebrate the Festival of Lights today.
Similarly, Sajne Saravanan, a 20-year-old student at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), was excited to celebrate Deepavali with her family for the first time in the Land of the Hornbills.
The sweet lass from Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, said that this year’s celebration might be a little different because she is celebrating it in Sarawak.
“But this is a very special Deepavali for me because my family is willing to come to Kuching to celebrate the festival together.
“If I go back to West Malaysia, it might be difficult because of time constraints. I also have classes to attend,” she said when met by Suara Sarawak, here, today.
She added that preparations to celebrate Deepavali were moderate because many items or necessities were brought over by her mother, Vynavi Thanapalasingam, 46 from West Malaysia.
“So, today (Saturday) I, along with my mother and younger brother Tejasve Saravanan, 16, went out to India Street to make other last-minute preparations.
“On Deepavali, my family and I will only go to the temple around the city to complete the morning prayer ceremony. Then, we will gather and spend time together,” she said.
Meanwhile, Vynavi said, celebrating Deepavali in Sarawak is a bit challenging because they have no experience and it is also their first time celebrating the festival here.
“However, because my daughter is here and cannot return to home, we decided to accompany her during Deepavali.
“Everything is also going well; there are temples around the city for us to pray. So, there is no problem for us to celebrate this festival in Sarawak,” she said.
In the meantime, Tejasve said that the celebration of Deepavali is also an interesting experience and a chance to see a new atmosphere around Kuching city.
“Besides that, I can also spend time with my sister (Sajne) because I haven’t seen her in a long time,” he said.
In this regard, Suara Sarawak also took the opportunity to conduct a survey around India Street and Jalan Gambir here, yesterday, and found that not many Indians were shopping until midday.
Decorations in conjunction with the Deepavali celebrations were also not visible in the area.
