Carlyle School Celebrates Dewali and Diversity

For the second straight year, the school’s staff, teachers, and students celebrated the Hindu holiday of Dewali, also referred to as the “Festival of Light,” along with school board and local officials, and a few dozen parents. As a school with diverse cultures, the celebration is an excellent example of respect and sharing among people of different backgrounds.

“The celebration means that we’re very open to all cultures and making everyone feel welcome,” declared school Principal Itrat Ahmad, who was born in India. “Ours is a big family where people look after each other.”

Carlyle also celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah and the unofficial African holiday of Kwanzaa, she added. Dewali is commemorated there because almost half of the students are of Indian and Sri Lankan (Tamil) origins.

Like on the other holidays, all of the students are invited to the school gym to watch and sometimes participate in the event’s celebrations. In keeping with the school’s philosophy, participants aren’t limited to those who celebrate it at home with their families and guests. For each of the several class presentations, there were also children of Caribbean, Chinese and European backgrounds. “Children from other cultures actively participate because they want to learn a lot,” said Ahmad.

Longtime pre-K teacher Lorna Rosenberger said the children of Hindu origin have a good opportunity to teach all of the other children about their religion and Dewali.

Each of three classes explained what they had learned about the major holiday and how it’s celebrated. As the “Festival of Light,” lanterns, fireworks and small candles, or diyas, signify the uplifting of darkness and victory of the good over the bad within.

(It also commemorates the homecoming of Lord Rama after a 14-year exile by the people of Ayodhya who greeted him by lighting up rows of lamps, known as deepawali, to light his way through the darkness).

To welcome guests, people place lanterns in front of their homes. Others added that the holiday is celebrated through flowers, sharing sweets, and worship and done differently in the regions of India. One young boy concluded that “Dewali is a very happy and exciting day.”

The Carlyle celebration also included an opening prayer, a performance of Tabla hand-drumming, two folk dances, and a fashion show that really got the student audience excited by their swaggering down the centre aisle.

Dressed up in saris and kurtas (male shirts), the teachers and principal Ahmad danced in a circle while holding a diya candle. The afternoon was topped off by a short Tabla performance by Lakshmi Mathur that the students warmly applauded.

Afterwards, invited guests and parents shared an abundance of delicious Indian food, such as samosas (patties), baras (fried lentil noodles), laddoo (sweet made from chickpea flour), and bursi, another sweet made from coconut and molasses that is boiled for several hours to the consistency of fudge.

Headed by Kezia Sandanam, several of the Hindu students’ mothers helped the students to rehearse their performances as well as prepare the food. “It’s a way to encourage parents to come into the school and have them feel that they have something to offer,” Ahmad said.

English Montreal School Board director Antonio Lacroce noted that it’s most likely that Carlyle is the only school that celebrates Dewali in such a manner. “It’s very unique and wonderful that all of the kids come together from different backgrounds to celebrate someone else’s New Year.”

(Photo: Jacques Pharand)