Diwali lights up Okanagan College

• Cultural celebration observed at Okanagan College
• Hindu faith celebrates the victory of Lord Ram
• Sikh faith celebrates the return of the Guru

Students were able to light up Okanagan College by celebrating Diwali in-person for the first time in nearly two years.

Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights and different events are celebrated in the Hindu and Sikh faiths.

Student Abhishek Kakkar, said for Hindus, Diwali is about celebrating victory over an evil king, when Lord Ram, his wife, and brother, returned to their kingdom after 14 years of exile.

Kakkar was thankful to volunteer as part of the catering and take part in Diwali celebrations in-person as he’s only been in Canada for a few months.

“I’m not a virtual person or online person, so I feel very great to have everyone settle over here and it feels so good,” Kakkar told Kelowna10.

“[People] from different countries and different communities, they’re also volunteering with us and celebrating the Festival of Lights… it shows we are all one.”

Desserts and chai tea were given to students at a table lit up with candles and orange lights. A photo booth was set up and a slide show showing various Diwali celebrations was playing on a nearby TV.

Fellow student, Indervir Kaur practices the Sikh faith. She said Diwali in her religion is about the release of their sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, from prison with 52 other princes.

After being in Canada for the past two years, she was excited to finally start experiencing the college lifestyle.

“My friends who are older than me, they used to talk about their college days, and I’ve been missing all the fun… because everything went online,” Kaur said.

“So now I can really feel what college life looks like and yeah, after two years it’s pretty much relieving that we are getting back to normal again.”