Truth resonates with the Eternal Light of Diwalii. Trinidad and Tobago, where about 40% of the 1.3 million population of the island nation in the Caribbean is of Indian ancestry, celebrates Diwalii on October 31, 2024, a public holiday since 1966.

Diwali continues to generate a national appeal from all sectors of the populace, whether at Divali Nagar or spread throughout the nation. Our nation is crying for leadership at all levels of society. The task at hand is to find quick and serious responses to the economic, social, culture, unemployment, rising food prices, deterioration of public utilities and governance.

Divali promotes multiculturalism and secularism and it has become an institution in Trinidad and Tobago, and it is one such festival that continuously knits mankind with the Creator. The teachings, the messages, the philosophy are embedded in our spiritual texts, all of which have given hope, faith, forbearance and tenacity to past generations, and will certainly do the same for us, and future generations. We must not fall prey otherwise

The prescription for all social, economic, cultural and political challenges will be found in the great religions of mankind. Hindus and the Indian diaspora have an integral part in this process. We must not replace our sacred religious texts with political manifestos, which in some cases are the norms.

Religious freedom in T&T

As we observe Diwali 2024, we must engage ourselves in the noble task of a spiritual revolution as pronounced by the great seers and religious leaders to chip in and help change the course of human history, now, or we will face the perils of hopelessness leading into doomsday.

We in Trinidad and Tobago can boast that our republican constitution safeguards and promotes religious freedom and observance. While we must talk too much, we will not surrender this basic inalienable right to any man or government.

The observance of Diwali has its roots for 186 years since the arrival of the first of East Indians who came here from India, principally Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They not only contributed to socio-economic development, but engineered a religious and cultural platform. The Indian diaspora proudly celebrates numerous East Indian religious festivals such as Lord Ganesh Ustav, Lord Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Naumi, Lord Krishna Janamasti, Holi, and a network of other religious and spiritual occasions. The lights of Diwali must not be a one-day affair, but it must become part of mankind's natural instincts, and its observance must be respected, and it is not an occasion for fetes, but one of sacredness.

Keeping alive Indian culture

The quality of devotion we exude at all times as Diwali, the Universal Festival of Lights to offer new hope to a disillusioned people. We must not let ourselves down on this initiative, but it must be inscribed on the canvas of our consciousness and etched in our hearts, thereby making it a personal humanitarian act.

Acharya Swami Avdheshanand Giri called on mankind to wake up from lethargy, inertia and indifference, be active and dynamic, and be harmonious with everybody and everywhere. “The ultimate Reality is One, Infinite, Eternal, Self-Existent, Self-Luminous and Self-contained Spiritual Being. Faith and practice can enable you to overcome any and every obstacle in the spiritual path. If you want to be happy, make others happy. This is the Divine Law. Love is an irresistible and inevitable force.”

We all must promote familial and communal contacts at all times.  As we celebrate Diwali, let us renew our efforts to keep the flag of Hinduism and Indian culture flying now and ever.

The words of Mahatma Gandhi, who revived the whole concept of truth and aligned it with the flames of Diwali, are on the lips of all seekers who want to live an exemplary life as he did: "Truth is as old as the hills. Truth resonates with the Light of Diwali. Truth is absolute, when all things fail, Truth does not."

(The author is a Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago-based journalist and consultant. Views are personal. He can be contacted at paras_ramoutar@yahoo.com)