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Discovering Diwali

An Indian Festival of Lights

By Crystal Patriarche

There are many details of the legend that are too lengthy to concentrate on in a short article, but there are many lessons to be learned from the legend, says Amin. "You could spend a whole day talking about why Rama was exiled in the first place," he says.

Basically, Rama's father, the King, made a promise to one of his wives that he would do anything she asked because she had gone to a war with him, become his confidant and stuck her finger in the wheel of the chariot to keep it moving when a bolt fell off. He was so impressed, he promised her anything.

When it was time, she did ask something of the king – she asked that Rama (the king's oldest son) be exiled so that her son could be next in line to be king. Since he promised her anything, he exiled his oldest son even though he didn't want to.

"There are many, many lessons to teach children in the story of Rama," says Amin. "I tell my kids the stories before they go to bed. Eventually you run out of Cinderella stories, and I wanted them to know the good lessons here. One important thing is that if you make a promise, you keep it. And that good can overcome evil."

Amin and his family celebrate Diwali every year. "We light candles at our house and make sweets to celebrate Diwali even though we are not in India," says Amin. He says that there are Indian communities in California and New Jersey that celebrate Diwali, and that Indian restaurants are busiest during that time of year, especially because of the emphasis on sweets during the festival.

The most popular sweets to make are jalebi, a small ring of dough that is fried and covered in sugary syrup, and kaju katri, cashews that are lined with a very thin coating of silver.

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