Inside Kamala Harris’ Diwali celebration: US vice president explains what the festival means

Besides India, Diwali, the festival of lights, is also celebrated around the world the Indian diaspora. In the US — which has a large desi population — the festival is quite popular.
In fact, it was also recently announced that it would become a public school holiday in New York City starting 2023, a decision that has been hailed many Indians, including actor Priyanka Chopra.
As such, it was only expected that Kamala Harris take part in the celebrations, and she did. Harris, who is part-Indian and part-Jamaican and the first Indian-origin vice president of the US, took to Instagram to share glimpses of the celebration, wherein she was joined her husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff.
Photo: Instagram/@vp
Harris turned host for a number of guests as she invited them to her house, and wrote in an Instagram story, “Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating the Festival of Lights here in the United States and around the world. @secondgentleman and I were proud to host Diwali at our home for this holiday filled with light, love and prosperity.”
She also shared an Instagram reel, in which she was seen in a cheery mood, lighting firecrackers and screaming ‘Happy Diwali’.

Elsewhere in the video, she was seen explaining the meaning of the festival to the people gathered, stating that Diwali is “about tradition”. “It is about culture, it is about an age-old concept that transcends cultures and communities… to consider the duality of life, the balance between darkness and light. To celebrate the light, elevating us out of the darkness.”
There was also a splash of culture as people were seen dancing to Indian beats, lighting oil lamps and generally enjoying the mood of the festival.

Diwali is a Hindu festival, predominantly celebrated Hindus around the world, who believe that it was on this day many centuries ago, that Lord Rama — an incarnation of Lord Vishnu of the holy Hindu trinity — had returned home to the kingdom of Ayodhya to take his rightful place on the throne, after spending 14 years in exile, during which he had fought and defeated King Ravana of Lanka.
To welcome him, people of Ayodhya had decorated their homes and streets with earthen lamps or diyas, lighting them to illuminate his path to the palace on a new moon night.
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