Deepavali not just another holiday for Punjabi restaurant owner

KUALA LUMPUR: Each year, as Deepavali comes round the corner, Jasvinder Singh looks forward to one thing in particular: the gulab jamun.

The 36-year-old from Pasir Gudang said the sweet treat had been a favourite of his since childhood.

“My mother used to make it a lot. Usually a plate or two would go missing afterwards – she would know who ate it.

“I just love eating the gulab jamun. I guess you could call me the gulab jamun monster,” he said with a laugh during an interview with FMT.

Gulab jamun aside, Jasvinder doesn’t need to be asked twice when offered a mutton dish prepared by his Hindu friends who invite him over for Deepavali celebrations at their homes.

Jasvinder, who runs a Punjabi eatery in Desa Setapak, has lived in Kuala Lumpur for the past eight years. Normally, he heads back to his hometown to celebrate Deepavali.

But he will not be heading back to Pasir Gudang this year as the youngest of his two children, who is still a toddler, is “too young to sit still for the entire journey”.

Recalling his own childhood, Jasvinder said he had viewed Deepavali like any other festivity marked by a public holiday, playing with firecrackers with other children.

But as he grew older, he said, he began to understand the reasons behind Deepavali, the festival of lights which celebrates the victory of good over evil. The deeper he went into Sikhism, he added, the more he learned about Deepavali.

He said for Punjabis, another historical event coincided with Deepavali: the Bandi Chhor Divas or Day of Liberation. On this day, according to Sikh history, the sixth guru – Guru Hargobind – was released from prison by Mughal Emperor Jahangir, who freed 52 other Hindu kings as well.

“This is a significant day for us, where we celebrate the release of Guru Hargobind along with the other kings,” he said.

Jasvinder, who has a five-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old toddler, grew up living in the Pasir Gudang Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) quarters with his parents and sister. The nearest Punjabi family was quite a distance away.

In Kuala Lumpur, however, the situation was different, he said. Here, there is a large community of Sikhs in his area, with eight gurdwaras in the vicinity.

“Having multiple gurdwaras, Deepavali ends up being celebrated throughout the month because every gurdwara wants to do something.”

Every Deepavali, he said, his family would perform their prayers at the gurdwara in the morning, then help out in the kitchen for breakfast and lunch. After that, they meet up with their family and friends at their homes.

“Since we have friends who are of different races, we also invite them over to our house to try our dishes.

“From evening onwards, we are mostly at home, playing with firecrackers,” he said, adding that if they could not make it to the gurdwara in the morning, they would do so in the evening.

Although his children are still too young to understand why they celebrate Deepavali, Jasvinder says his daughter is slowly figuring things out.

“She knows it is celebrated by South Indians, that it is a celebration of good overcoming evil, and that there is no more darkness.

“She still thinks it’s just another holiday, another event. (But) I believe when she is older, she will better understand the significance of this celebration,” he said. - FMT