United States Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated Diwali with her husband and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff at their residence in Washington on Friday.
Community leaders who attended the celebration said that Harris stated that the Hindu festival, Diwali, is a universal concept that transcends cultures. She opened her official residence, the Naval Observatory, to a large number of Indian Americans to celebrate the festival of lights.
Reports said that the mansion was decorated with lights and ‘diyas’ (earthen lamps) and the guests were served a variety of authentic Indian delicacies from ‘pani puri’ to traditional sweets.
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Harris told the gathering that the festival of Diwali is a universal concept that transcends cultures. She further added that it is about being inspired by the relevance of light over darkness.
As mentioned by news agencies, the guests were shocked when they got sparklers (commonly known as phuljhadi) were presented to them; they lit them with Harris and the Second Gentleman while exchanging well wishes.
A group of young dancers performed on popular Bollywood hits like “Jai Ho” and “Om Shanti”.
As quoted by India-based news agency PTI, Harris said: “It is about culture. It is about an age-old concept that transcends cultures and communities. It is about a point of reflection and a moment of reflection to consider the duality of life in terms of the balance between darkness and light. And to celebrate the light. In that way, to think about what our role is and what our role should be in elevating us out of the darkness, guided by the light,”
She recollected her days of celebrating as a child with her grandparents in Chennai.
She said, “In the last few years, we have experienced a lot that has been about powerful forces trying to divide, trying to focus on what they would suggest are dissimilarities when we all know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.”
She added, “There are moments in our country right now where there are those who fight against democratic principles. The principles upon which our nation was founded. Principles like freedom, liberty,”
“And in these moments where we all have a keen awareness of the unfairness and the injustice of it all, let us be guided by our knowledge that it is not new, that there will be moments like this, but that we have the power to make a difference and to elevate any moment in a way that we feel and can see the future and the possibility and all that is bright that the world allows when we have the ability to believe in it,” she said.
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