Deepavali In Melbourne

We all know how your Deepavali went. But how about the poor innocent children we send across the seas to go get some quality education and hope they aren't boozing up while we're asleep? The Girl reports straight from the land Down Under on what varsity kids do when their folks aint there to watch them. Melbourne Masala!

Ah yes, the big day. I hope everyone had an awesome Deepavali. Here in Melbourne, there were lots of parties going on; the main one being the Deepavali Bonanza at Federation Square. My day didn't start very well and was kinda depressing because exam trumps Deepavali. But, as the day went by, all my Indian friends decided that since Deepavali comes once a year, we are going off to Fed Square and leave our exam worries in our rooms.

My Dad took the liberty to call me later in the night, exposing me to the sounds of merriment in my Grandmother's house making me incredibly homesick. But I digress.

Anyways, I went to a friends place, and we decided to dress up for the day. So we decided on wearing saris. Men, however do not understand that saris take a while to tie. I swear, the next time I hear a guy bitch about how long women take to get ready I am going to punch his nose flat. We have to do hair, makeup, tie the sari properly, pin it at the right places etc etc. It takes time. So while I was getting ready, there were 3 cars outside honking and yelling for us to 'speed it up'. Felt like Deepavali indeed.

I absolutely adored the walk to Federation square. Compliments from total strangers. Love it. Totally made my day. I exchanged a couple of 'Happy Diwali' wishes at the traffic signal and while crossing the street. I was in pretty high spirits by the time I reached Federation Square. [and here I wonder what kinda "high"] But nothing could prepare me for the sight at Fed Square. 3000+ Indians, jam packed in one parade. [we have 60,000 foreign workers thronging their hangouts each weekend babe]

My friends saw the crowd and were taken aback. Seriously, there were ambulances on the side, police EVERYWHERE. But, since we had taken the effort to get there, we decided to go ahead with it. It was like entering a battle zone. Everyone was pushing each other with absolutely no regard whatsoever. The thing is, nothing was happening. All I saw was people, people and more people. The stage was empty and the food stores were located in one corner. It would easily take me about an hour to get to the food and I wasn't going to risk ripping my saree.

So my friends and I stood. And waited. Finally some woman came on stage, yelled out a couple of 'Happy Diwali' greetings. I could tell that many of the men there were drinking and were determined to have fun no matter what. What a sight to behold. Desi men wrapped the Indian flag around and danced to no music. Oh, and some guy started banging on drums and half the crowd started jumping up and down. I was seriously worried that some kid might get trampled on.

Finally there was a performance, which was very energetic and the quite nice. That was the only thing that I enjoyed. After that there was classical music and speeches by non-indians, who made the crowd go mad when they dropped a couple of Hindi words here and there. Then the fireworks came on, and went on for about 25 mins. It was kinda drab at first, but it got better. The night ended with 20 sadars beating up 4 Aussie policemen.

As you can probably tell by now, the Fed Square event wasn't that great. It wasn't even good. It was a huge dissapointment. My friend said it was just a parade hired for one night so that every Indian in Melbourne can get together. Thank goodness for my super witty and sarcastic friends who made my night some what tolerable, at least I had a good laugh. The night ended with a dinner at an Indian restaurant, where I enjoyed the company more than the food.

All in all, I guess rather than the event or occasion it is the people around you that make festivities enjoyable. I never really appreciated family until I was without them. I hope everyone had an amazing Deepavali nonetheless. Cheerios!

Editor: Not quite the tale of booze, drugs and bush whacked bhangra but heck, as long you had a good one. This is the link to the event held: Diwali Parade at Fed Square. Damn early sleepers these Aussies. The opening ceremony was at 5:30 pm and the closing ceremony was at sundown. In the words of a Melbournian, that's "urmm..6-ish".

In reality of course, it ended at 9. Cos, no matter where in the world you wanna hold a Yindian event. It MUST end later than projected.

Photos from: Amanda Sim