{"id":2281,"date":"2012-11-07T22:35:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T22:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:42:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:42:00","slug":"west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/","title":{"rendered":"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\nwww.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Dollard des Ormeaux will be the focal point for Diwali, Nov. 13\u2014one of the most important and colourful celebrations for the West Island’s burgeoning South Asian community.<\/p>\n

Already a significant presence in Dollard’s multi-ethnic melting pot, 2011 census figures, released Oct. 24, show that Punjabi has leapfrogged languages such as Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish and Italian to become Canada’s third most-spoken mother tongue, after English and French.<\/p>\n

A firework display is slated to begin at 9:30 p.m., at the Hindu Mandir<\/a>, at 50 Kesmark. Sikhs will also mark Diwali at Gurdwara Sahib of Greater Montreal, 1155 Hyman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the biggest celebration of the year,\u201d Shama Chopra, a founder of the Dollard Hindu temple, told The Suburban. <\/i>Diwali\u2014also known as the festival of lights\u2014transcends most of India’s religions.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many Indian communities this is the New Year for them,\u201d said Chopra. \u201cIt is the happiest day of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commemoration is observed by Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists in India and even some Indian Catholics celebrate Diwali,\u201d Chopra added. It is marked far beyond India and is a statutory holiday in nearly a dozen countries as far-flung as Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, and Fiji in the South Pacific.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hindu worship service recalls how Lord Ram returned from 14 years of exile after defeating the demon king Ravana,\u201d Chopra explained.<\/p>\n

A fresh start, Diwali is a time for reconciliation and hope for the future, when people put past differences behind them and give symbolic gifts. Homes are festooned with lights, which remain on through the night. Adherents buy and wear new clothes as an outward symbol of renewal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe burn oil lamps and distribute traditional sweets to as many as 2,000 people who attend,\u201d Chopra continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever we do this at the Hindu mandir, different communities come and join us in Dollard des Ormeaux because of the unity that is felt at this time. We all get together and offer ‘Happy Diwali’ greetings to each other as well as hug one another, and children perform a variety of dances and songs.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[‘GoogleAnalyticsObject’]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
\n (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
\n m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
\n })(window,document,’script’,’\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js’,’ga’);<\/p>\n

ga(‘create’, ‘UA-45892555-1’, ‘robertfrankmedia.blogspot.com’);
\n ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Dollard des Ormeaux will be the focal point for Diwali, Nov. 13\u2014one of the most important and colourful celebrations for the West Island’s burgeoning South Asian community. Already a significant presence in Dollard’s multi-ethnic melting pot, 2011 census figures, released Oct. 24, show that Punjabi has leapfrogged languages such as Mandarin,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWest Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Dollard des Ormeaux will be the focal point for Diwali, Nov. 13\u2014one of the most important and colourful celebrations for the West Island’s burgeoning South Asian community. Already a significant presence in Dollard’s multi-ethnic melting pot, 2011 census figures, released Oct. 24, show that Punjabi has leapfrogged languages such as Mandarin,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-07T22:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-01T19:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"headline\":\"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-07T22:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:42:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":426,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/\",\"name\":\"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week - Newscoverage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-07T22:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:42:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/07\\\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newscoverage\",\"description\":\"newscoverage.org\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\",\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"editor robert\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/robert.frank.90834\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/editor-robert\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week - Newscoverage","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week - Newscoverage","og_description":"By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Dollard des Ormeaux will be the focal point for Diwali, Nov. 13\u2014one of the most important and colourful celebrations for the West Island’s burgeoning South Asian community. Already a significant presence in Dollard’s multi-ethnic melting pot, 2011 census figures, released Oct. 24, show that Punjabi has leapfrogged languages such as Mandarin,","og_url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/","og_site_name":"Newscoverage","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834","article_published_time":"2012-11-07T22:35:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-01T19:42:00+00:00","author":"editor robert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor robert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/"},"author":{"name":"editor robert","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"headline":"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week","datePublished":"2012-11-07T22:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:42:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/"},"wordCount":426,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/","name":"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week - Newscoverage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-11-07T22:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:42:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/07\/west-islanders-to-celebrate-diwali-nex\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"West Islanders to celebrate Diwali next week"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/","name":"Newscoverage","description":"newscoverage.org","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3","name":"editor robert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"editor robert"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834"],"url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/author\/editor-robert\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5491,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281\/revisions\/5491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}