Diwali — Festival of Lights

Diwali means *row of lights*. For five nights every autumn, families across India and the wider South Asian diaspora line their doorsteps and windowsills with small oil lamps — *diyas* — and the streets go luminous from the ground up.

The third night is the main one. Families clean the house, wear new clothes, and pray to Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, who is said to visit only homes that are clean and lit. After prayer, sweets — *jalebi, gulab jamun, ladoo* — and fireworks, and visits to neighbors, and food shared until very late.

In Trinidad, where indentured South Asian workers brought Diwali with them in the 19th century, the lights line entire villages on the central plain. In London, Leicester closes streets for it. In Toronto, the entire city block of Gerrard India Bazaar lights up. The diaspora kept the holiday alive, sometimes more visibly than the homeland did.

If your family is new to Diwali — or new to remembering it — start with one diya at the front door. Tell your child that the light is for them. That part is true everywhere.