Surrey Schools celebrates Diwali and Hindu Heritage Month

SAIL students celebrated Diwali with mehndi, crafts, food and dance performances in the Resource & Education Centre last week. More schools across Surrey and White Rock are celebrating the festival of light this week and next week, as well as Hindu Heritage Month throughout November.

Tomorrow is Diwali, and schools across Surrey and White Rock are shining a light on India’s biggest and brightest holiday of the year, as well as on Hindu Heritage Month all November long.

Diwali is a festival of light that celebrates the triumph of good (light) over evil (darkness) in South Asian cultures and is celebrated over five days in parts of India. Diwali takes place on the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar calendar, during which Sikhs, Hindus, Jains and some Buddhists light diyas to celebrate the victory of light. This year, Diwali also falls at the start of Hindu Heritage Month, which acknowledges the contributions of the Hindu community to Canada’s growth.

For Elgin Park Secondary principal Kavita Sharma, who is of Punjabi background culturally and Hindu background religiously, Diwali was a significant observance for her family – but not so much to the rest of her Interior hometown.

“I grew up in the Kootenays and schools weren't really talking about equity, inclusion and diversity back then,” she said. “My brother and I really lived in two worlds growing up in our schools where school was school and home was where we did any of our religious and cultural celebrations.”

While Sharma and her family would worship at the mandir (traditional name for Hindu temple) and celebrate Diwali on their own, the experience was entirely different for Cedar Hills Elementary learner support team (LST) teacher Sukhi Sidhu, who is of Sikh background and spent her childhood on the other side of the world in Kolkata.

“Diwali was something really, really special,” said Sidhu. “We would have a procession in the evening for quite a few kilometres, and we would walk and people would sing. Then we would come back to the langar [traditional name for food hall] in the gurdwara [Sikh temple] for food.

“We did have a Punjabi community but not as many as we see here in Surrey.”

Both Sidhu and Sharma eventually found their ways to Surrey Schools, and though their paths were quite different, they each had the same impression of Diwali as a larger-than-life celebration for people of diverse backgrounds in Canada.

“It’s more of a big deal here in Surrey than where I grew in India,” said Sidhu. “I never thought when I came to Canada that celebrations like this would happen.”

“What I love about our district is that we’ve really honed in on the fact that every student should feel like they belong,” said Sharma. “Surrey’s amazing for acknowledging Diwali or Eid or Christmas or Hanukkah – the kids actually see it and they feel it and they feel seen.

“It’s cool that we’re embracing different parts of people’s identities, and the more our students are exposed to different cultures, the more we create global citizenship and know how to engage with people who do things differently.”

Throughout the district, students and schools are holding numerous Diwali celebrations, both this week and next week, with art, food, dancing, music and much, much more!

Elgin Park’s Racial Equity committee is running its Diwali event on Monday, Nov. 4, as are the secondary’s feeder schools, complete with food, activities and mehndi by the school’s arts club. Cedar Hills is hosting a schoolwide gathering, with 19 performances by students from kindergarten through Grade 7, as well as a fashion show and a feast of samosas, pakoras and sweets.

Meanwhile, Janice Churchill Elementary has decorations up for their Diwali celebration on Friday.

Lena Shaw Elementary students have been learning about Diwali, and are having a gathering later this week.

The Coast Meridian Elementary PAC is selling samosas after school on Friday, Nov. 1, to raise money for Grade 7 activities.

All this week, Princess Margaret Secondary is selling Diwali candy grams at lunch.

SAIL students also made Diwali decorations and put on a dance performance in the Resource & Education Centre.

Happy Diwali to all of our students and staff celebrating!