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Ahead of Diwali, Singapore’s Little India comes alive with vibrant lights, festive markets, traditional attire, Indian sweets and Bollywood music, transforming the island nation into a cultural hub for the diaspora.
The streets glow with colourful installations, welcoming visitors into a festive world lined with shops selling jewellery, traditional outfits, decorative lights, rangoli materials, idols of gods and goddesses, diyas and sweets. Bollywood songs playing through the air add to the mood as families, tourists and shoppers navigate the bustling stores. For the Indian community living thousands of kilometres away from home, these celebrations offer a way to stay connected to their roots and traditions, bringing a familiar feeling of home through lights, music, food and shopping. Moreover, the celebrations go beyond the Indian community as people from diverse backgrounds come together to experience the heritage, reflecting Singapore’s multicultural spirit. Speaking to ANI, members of the diaspora shared their experiences of marking the festive season abroad. "Diwali is a very big festival here, and we all celebrate with our friends and some of the family members who stay here in Singapore. It''s a great festival. We celebrate it for almost all days. We celebrate in Singapore, and you feel like we are in India because, well, the place where we stay has a lot of Indians. There are many Indian families, not only from Maharashtra, but from Punjab, Gujarat and South India. People from all states are here, and we all celebrate this Diwali festival together," said Naveen. Reflecting on the atmosphere, Manish Berlia noted, "Diwali here is very different. It''s more vibrant and more colourful, with less sound than you see in India. And, you know, right from the beginning of September till the end of November, you''ll probably see streets like this buzzing with a lot of different varieties of garlands, diyas and stuff like that. Again, no crackers are allowed here. So it''s more to do with colours and everything here for Diwali as well." Highlighting the commercial build-up, resident Ganesh shared, "Regardless of which part of India they''re coming from, the Indian festival Diwali is the biggest one, and everybody starts coming here to celebrate, buy things and all that in my shop and everything. But the festival is in two weeks'' time. People are starting to come, but we''re going to see the rush in 10 days'' time."  Building seamlessly on this steady build-up of festive anticipation as shoppers and merchants prepare for the peak rush, Vijay Kumar Vemuri added, "So we celebrate Diwali the same way as we do back home in India. So we get almost everything that we get in India. We go shopping and buy crackers, and then we buy flowers for praying to God at home. We do all those things here. Also, there will be events in Little India where most of the Indians celebrate the festival. So this is where we can come and buy almost everything that is needed for the festival. I think we never feel we are away from India. We always feel like Singapore is another place for Indians." The festival of Diwali falls on Sunday, November 8. (ANI)
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