Lead Retail Chaplain Mark Ball spoke with HSBC Managing Director and Sanskrit Scholar Suri Shandilya about Diwali.
I vividly remember my mother introducing Diwali to my Christian primary school in East London back in the 1980s. She was invited in to explain something of the festival to the children, brought samosas in with her, and invited the teachers round to the house for food after school. I learned from my mother the importance of sharing faith and hospitality, something which has stayed with me over the years.
I am Co-Chair of HSBC Global Faith and active supporter of our longest running faith-based ERG which began in 1975, Christians in HSBC. Valuing and integrating faith and spirituality in the workplace has become an important part of who we are as a business. Encouraging the celebration of major faith festivals is a good way for us to explore inclusion in practice.
Diwali is an ancient festival, with roots going back into the mists of time and weaving together the celebration of some of the most foundational sacred pastimes, inspirational events, and important Deities in the Hindu faith, over a period of five days culminating in Amavasya, the dark new moon night. The name Diwali comes from the ancient Sanskrit words dipa and vali, light and row, and unites the various traditions and regional variations in a joyful and unifying celebration of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. That is what the lighting of the diya lamps represent, as they light the way for blessings to come even amidst the new moon.
A particular blessing this year is that I will be on pilgrimage in India with my family for the celebrations – for the first time! As a family we feel a close connection and emotional attachment to the country of our heritage. I am looking forward to being fully immersed in the cultural and spiritual intensity of the festival which unites so many people in such a large country. The spirit of inclusion, kindness, prayerfulness, and bliss will be evident everywhere, but we will also be visiting some particularly holy sites on the pilgrimage. That combination of people and place is going to have a powerful impact on us all. To be on the receiving end of that experience there, more prayerful and reflective than hosting it and explaining it here, is going to be incredibly special. As is the fact that the children are old enough now to learn from seeing what they know to be a materialistically divided society united spiritually. These are lessons we adults can be learning as well as our children, and it is learning that can have an influence at home and at work, it is learning that can change the world.
The power of faith to bring widely diverse people together in unifying spirituality and common humanity is one of the great joys of the Diwali celebrations for me, from my own childhood years in East London, to being able to share it with my own children this year in India.
Happy Diwali!
Image by jyothi kumar from Pixabay
