NCIC
Issue 2
Lakhia Abiraj, born to Rampersad
and Rajuanti of Sisters Road, Rio
Claro on September 16th 1924, recounts the celebration of Divali
when she was a child.
November 2012
channa and aloo were amongst some of
the savoury dishes that would be prepared.
I loved everything about Divali. Alot of
my excitement came from the anticipation of the evening, to light those
deeyas, which we had spent the day
making. Nobody left their home on
Divali day, the day was spent preparing for the evening. It was a day of fast
which culminated into the grand welcoming of the Lord Sri Ram into our
homes.
“I lived in a very remote area in Rio
Claro quite distant to neighbouring
houses. In my household, there were my
mother, my father, 3 brothers: Mahabir
Rampersad, Deonarine Rampersad,
Harinanan Rampersad, 3 sisters Ghirhea Rampersad, Sookhia Rampersad
and Samaria Rampersad. We lived in a
3 bedroom board-house.
My father ran a mini-shop selling basic
goods such as soap, sugar, salt, rice and
flour. My father also sold cocoa and I recall at about 11 years old, my
brothers, sisters and I would make our
coffee, which were grown by us.
own deeyas out of the soil of the earth.
As far as I could remember, Divali was We would dig into the earth, and
the day in celebration of Sri Ram’s re- knead the soil with water and from that
turn from Banwas or as my Aaji would we would shape the soil into a deeya.
say, Sri Ram’s return from ‘Ban’. Aaji We would make about a dozen deeyas
would narrate the story of how thou- each and then put them out to dry.
sands of lamps were lit in Ayodha, Sri
Ram’s birth place, to welcome his return My father had a cotton tree, from which
from exile after defeating the evil King we would pick cotton to make the wick. I
Ravan whose rule was marked by aad- would burst the cotton and roll it into a
harmic practices. The defeat of the evil whip-like shape and have it ready for
King Ravan by Sri Ram marked the tri- the evening.
umph of light over darkness, good over Sweets and savouries were the next
evil, and each year that moment was highlight of the day. My mother would
recreated through the lighting of prepare sweet rice and halwa which we
deeyas. This is how I understood Divali. would use for puja at six (6) in the eveDivali was one of the happiest times I ning. She would also make a sweet
could remember growing up. It was al- called ‘gool goola’, which was made of
flour, sugar and spice. It was then deep
ways a time for family togetherness.
fried in oil. If you did not make gool
In those days we had no electricity, our goola you would feel as if it was not
light source came from pitch-oil lamps, Divali.
but on Divali day it was the light of
earthen deeyas that would illuminate My mother and elder sisters would also
prepare food. Sahari, dhalpuri and
our homes.
At the approach of evening, we would
all take our bath in preparation for the
evening’s puja. The whole family would
then gather around a starch mango tree
my father had planted. The root of this
mango tree was ‘lepayed’ with cow
manure. A ‘bedi’ would be made on the
mango root and all offerings would be
made right there. The first deeya would
be lit at the root of this tree. The whole
family would pray together, and a few
bhajans would be sung.
After puja, it was time to light deeyas,
have dinner and enjoy the sweets!
There was always an overwhelming
sense of joy and happiness which was
quite inexplicable when it came to
Divali. The happiness which I felt on
Divali, wa s beyond words. From age 11
now to age 88, this feeling is unchanged. Although celebrations have
now evolved on quite a large scale, the
spirit of Divali remains the same. The
meaning and the beauty of Divali remains unchanged and that inexplicable
feeling of overwhelming joy continues to
resonate
By Nesha Abiraj
within my inAs told by Lakhia Abiraj
Quote:
Respect is merited particularly by those who are our elders; because knowledge, insight and wisdom often are hard
won through a lifetime of discipline and learning...
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