Celebrating Diwali, Festival of Lights

by Monette Iturralde-Hamlin / November 15, 2021

When I was studying my masters at AIM decades ago, celebrating Diwali with my classmates meant lots of food, drink, and merriment. I never really understood what it meant until last Friday’s Indian Women in Enterprise (I-WE)’s Diwali, which gave me a whole new insight and appreciation of this beautiful celebration.

Diwali means “Festival of Lights” and gets its name from the row (avail) of clay lamps (deepa) that are lit by Indians outside their homes. Much like Christmas is to Christians, Diwali for Hindus symbolizes the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness.

That Friday afternoon, a beautiful hamper arrived at home, with a message to refrigerate upon receiving and to unbox it together during the event. Friday was jam packed with meetings and workshops, and I was excited to change into an Indian outfit given to me by Sanjay and Meena Mathur, parents of their lovely daughter Avantika who I took care of while she studied Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines.

The festivities began at 6PM with a welcome message from I-WE’s chairperson, Ms. Beena Advani. Unboxing the hamper revealed many interesting surprises which were part of the evening’s festivities. First, was the homemade delicacies in the box prepared by SouthIndy: Masala Wada, a South Indian legume appetizer; Pineapple Kesari, a semolina pudding topped with fruits and nuts; Jalebi, a pretty floral dessert made of saffron-infused sugar-coated flour; Samosa, a deep-fried triangle-shaped pastry filled with mashed potatoes, green peas and secret spices which I dipped into a date and tamarind chutney; and to drink, we made our own Almond Milk, mixing almond powder with fresh milk. Oh, it was soooo good!

Second, we were asked to choose a bindi (colorful dot sticker) and to put it in the middle of our forehead. I chose an orange one, since my outfit was orange. When I researched it later, I learned that the bindi signifies a woman’s marital status. Red symbolizes marriage, so widows would change their bindi to black. These days, they are more of an ornament, but it really made me feel part of the celebration.

Third, we got up and learned dancing Bollywood style from Saira Budhrani of Saira B Choreography Dance School. It got us moving, using the bandana which lined the hamper as a prop for our dance. Now that was a lot of fun!

Fourth, there was an Affirmation Card, which we used in an exciting activity led by Maisha Chulani of the Third Eye Wellness Alternative & Holistic Health Service. We were assigned by pairs to breakout rooms and asked to state our affirmations, beginning with “It is absolutely possible to…”. I found myself sharing my dreams, from writing a book, to traveling the world, to cooking Indian food, while my ever-smiling partner Lisa Biddle from In-Touch Community Services, shared her affirmations to lose weight, be healthy, visit Australia and host a dinner party for friends. The second session got us conversing a year later having made our desires a reality. We then wrote an affirmation on the card which sadly Pepi got hold of and chewed. This made me reflect long after the session that it was important to continue challenging ourselves and to actually do something to make our dreams come true.

Fifth, I-WE’s president Priyalashi Murugesan, invited us to get the Clay Diya in our hamper and to light it together to signify friendship and unity, a clarion call to new dreams, fresh hopes, undiscovered avenues, and different perspectives.

Sixth, we again broke up into bigger groups this time to tell each other one truth and one lie as an icebreaker, and then to share what we could offer our sisters to help them grow. We met, not just our I-WE sisters, but also their different partners like the WorkBank, In Touch Community Services, the Philippine Center for Creative Imaging -Digital Arts Training Center, representatives from the Embassy of India, and more. It was so much fun speaking with Kavita Handa of TaskUs, Saira Budhrani, and Sam Sehwani of The Kebab Factory. I was also happy to see friends and fellow members of the Women’s Business Council Philippines (WomenBizPH) attending the event: Chit Juan, Gene Tan, Cathy Turvill and Mylene Abiva, as well as, old and new friends like Indu Bhavnani, Sharon Vaswani, Neha Savellano, and more.

Finally, the hamper contained a jar with an Ayurvedic Home Remedy, prepared by Beena Advani. This represents a sneak peek into I-WE’s upcoming events which includes a Holistic Wellness Retreat for Women, a series highlighting the wealth of healthy living practices of India and the Philippines, a Mental Health First Aid certificate course, and more activities by The Third Eye Wellness.

Oh, and guess what? I even got a best-dressed award which I share with another friend, Sarah McLeod of Q2HR Solutions, Inc. Dr. Genevieve Ledesma-Tan won Most Engaged Partner Award, while Jack Canlas of Workbank and Priya Murugesan won Best Dancers.

Hearty congratulations to our I-WE sisters under the leadership of Beena Advani and Priya Murugesan! Indeed, with every event, my admiration for I-WE has grown by leaps and bounds, from the Sarap India online culinary festival to Likha Bazaar on Lazada which features curated art pieces, home decors, local weaves, and essentials made by artisan communities from India and the Philippines. Best of all, I have forged and deepened friendships with such beautiful women, inside and out.

Happy Diwali!