Diwali (Indian Festival of Light)

Greetings:
"Happy Diwali",
"Good wishes for a joyous Diwali with plenty of peace and prosperity." or
"The happiest of wishes for Diwali."

Background
Diwali, the Indian New Year celebration is the most important holiday for all Hindus. Diwali has a different meaning in Northern and Southern India. In Northern India, Diwali marks the start of a new year and it is dedicated to God Rahman, his wife Sita and his brother Lashmana who came back to their home town after being exiled in the jungle for more than ten years. Oil lamps were placed at the side of the path they

traveled on so that they didn't lose their way in the dark. In Southern India the festival is dedicated to Krishna who defeated a demon to free 16.000 women whom the demon held captive. Sikhs call it "Bandi-Chor Divas".

 
Diwali can be pronounced in different ways, for example Dipavali, Divali or Deepavali. The Hindi meaning is "Array of Lights", in Tamil it means "Path of Light". The exact date of the festival is dependent on the moon. It starts on the fifteenth day of the Hindu month Kartik, during the dark half of the month (end of October or beginning of November) and at new moon. (Source: Wikipedia)

How do Hindus celebrate the Festival of Lights?
The festival starts two or three days before the actual date of Diwali. This period is called "Little Diwali". People are busy with festival preparations and visit distant relatives because on the day of Diwali itself they mainly celebrate at home. Diwali signifies the renewal of life. House walls and doors get a fresh coat of paint. Every family hangs a lamp at the house door so that Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune can find her way inside. Roadside trees are often decorated with lights as well.

On the day of Diwali people get up early, clean themselves as usual for daily prayer and put on their newest or best clothes in honour of this special day. One visits relatives, friends and neighbours and exchanges good wishes to celebrate the lucky day and a Good New Year. People give each other sweets as presents and in every street they let off crackers and fireworks.

What significance does the festival have in the business world?
In private homes the picture of the God of Luck, Ganesh is put next to the picture of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune, Prosperity and Beauty. According to Indian belief one can never have enough fortune and luck, especially as a businessman. After the daily cleaning ritual (purity) and prayer they rush to their shops and offices. In the Indian business world Diwali is also the beginning of a new business year. On that important day one has to make sure that the goddess of fortune doesn't pass one's shop by. All Indian business places are open on that day and the customers line up. Diwali is the one day of the year when they might get something for free and hardly anybody wants to miss this opportunity. A crowded shop on Diwali is for all shop owners a sign of good luck for an upcoming successful business year.

Businessmen put their new account books on the altar in front of Lakshmi's picture and pray for prosperity and success. In the middle between the books they put a special mixture of rice and saffron as a lucky charm. Now the official inauguration of the new account books is over.

After this ritual employees receive gifts or, according to the annual accounts, even bonuses. The gifts vary according to position but no matter what kind of gift the main emphasis lies on the boss's expression of appreciation.

As efficient businessmen, Indians don't forget to maintain contacts to customers, business partners and neighbors on this day; after the prayer they visit them personally to bring presents. As all businessmen have this clever idea at the same time and this task has to be completed on the same day, the resulting traffic chaos is enormous.

More simple gifts consist for example of sweets, cashew nuts or calendars - more expensive gifts are saris for the ladies or a tie for the men. Very important customers might also get very expensive presents. Foreign businessmen should not visit their Indian partners during Diwali unless they want to bring them presents.

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