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PETALING JAYA: With the pandemic still rampant and people unable to travel back to their places of origin, the atmosphere of celebration is not quite there for Deepavali this year.
However, many families are trying to liven up the environment a bit for the sake of their young children.
Sankaran Shanmugam and his wife Hambhika Nair said they would have a low-key celebration with close relatives.
“Personally, there is not a lot of enthusiasm, but we have a young daughter, so we are excited for that enthusiasm to continue for her.
“We don’t want it to affect our daughter,” said the 35-year-old managing director of a security company.
Hambhika, 33, agreed that they simply wanted their daughter to at least experience some form of celebration in light of the application of the conditional MCO.
The lawyer said they decided to put up festive decorations and make a “kolam” around the house.
“I know a lot of people are worried about what’s going to happen, but we don’t want to drown our daughter in these kinds of worries,” Hambhika said.
Similarly, Vicknesh Krishnan, 44, will also have a quiet Deepavali with the family, with the celebrations primarily benefiting her four-year-old son.
“We will stay at my parents’ house in Klang, not far from my house. Actually, it’s more for him to watch the celebrations and be with his cousins.
“In fact, I am looking forward to a more relaxing environment as we will normally go to Kuala Kangsar to visit relatives. It is usually very busy and hectic,” said the deputy director of a dialysis center.
Other families have also decided to celebrate Deepavali in a low-key way, such as Chinmay Sharma, a 41-year-old Indian citizen.
He said it will only be a “very small celebration with direct relatives.
The director of a multinational company here said that they were not sure if they would go to the temple on Deepavali day because they wanted to avoid large gatherings.
“We will do all the religious rituals and decorate the house, but it won’t be a big celebration,” he said.
Another person who quietly celebrates Deepavali is 42-year-old insurance executive Barathi Krishnan, who said this would be the first time in his life that he would not return to Kelantan to celebrate Deepavali with his family and relatives.
The 42-year-old said being in Ipoh with her seven-year-old son, while her 10-year-old daughter was with her parents in Kelantan, was difficult.
“I’m very sad that I can’t celebrate with them. I can’t imagine what it will be like.
Usually the first day we will celebrate it at home. Then on the second day our entire extended family will wear matching shirts and travel somewhere like Langkawi, Pangkor, or Perhentian.
“This year we plan to go to Redang but we canceled it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Narainasamy Sivasamy, 56, felt that the Deepavali celebrations this year “would not be very joyful” as there were many people who had lost their jobs and were struggling.
“It will be a very moderate celebration. On the one hand, you have people suffering; on the other hand, you have a joyous experience. It is not very pleasant,” said the human resources director of a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Narainasamy said they would only have morning prayers and takeout food for the family in Deepavali.
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