By: Mason Mattu, Peak Associate
If you were wondering why there were so many fireworks on October 31 and November 1, it’s because South Asians celebrated Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas on those days respectively. Diwali is the celebration of “light over darkness, of good over evil.” It is celebrated across a variety of South Asian religions and cultures. Bandi Chhor Divas is celebrated by those who follow Sikhi or Sikhism, and celebrates the day when Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was freed from wrongful imprisonment. With him, he brought 52 prisoners who were also wrongly accused of crimes by the Mughals. In my family, we celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas by lighting divas, visiting the Gurdwara (a place of gathering and worship where all are welcome to respect the teachings of Sikhi) and listening to kirtan (singing the shabads in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, our holy scripture). Part of the celebrations also include having big family feasts and enjoying firework shows. The beautiful thing about our festivities is that everyone is welcome to participate as long as they do so respectfully. While people usually don’t undermine our cultural values, corporations do.
With a growing South Asian diaspora in North America, it’s inspiring to see Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas recognized and celebrated by many different people. I’m proud to be Canadian and share my cultural background. However, there has been a recent rise in South Asian holidays being used for commercial and political gain — merging them into one rather than honouring their unique significance.
In western countries, it has become more common for non-South Asian businesses to use Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas as a means to increase profits. These are festivals that, at their core, are meant to promote a stronger connection to religion and spirituality — not fuel corporate greed, spending habits, or performative marketing. In doing so, corporations erase the beautiful distinctions of Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas, blending them into a single, market-oriented holiday aimed at gaining the business of South Asian individuals.
One North American corporation which has most prominently sought out a profit on the basis of South Asian festivals is Walmart. The grocery giant recently announced that its so-called “Diwali footprint” has “increased more than 20% since last year and is now in more than half of [their] stores.” Note how multiple holidays have been grouped under the umbrella term of “Diwali.” I’ve even noticed Walmart using Diwali discount codes. New customers are attracted by performative marketing and are given a corporate-washed, all-in-one reductive approach to South Asian festivities. I have nothing against marketing towards a particular demographic. However, cultural celebrations are one thing that ought to stay out of the hands of corporations — especially given the fact that corporations such as Walmart exploit workers and use child labour while promoting “diversity.” This doesn’t sound like the values of Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas to me.
While one might assume Walmart has taken positive steps in their approach by working with Indian distributors to stock up their stores, their ultimate goal remains to profit off consumers allured by their offerings. These Indian corporations who supply goods to Walmart are enthralled in a quest for capital gains at their own exploitation. They’re supporting Walmart’s goal of commercializing and capitalizing on South Asian festivals to transform them into commodities.
Turning Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas into a “broader holiday ritual” will only allow for our culture to be lost at the hands of corporations.
Walmart has employed marketing and public relations strategies to celebrate Diwali, attempting to convince consumers that they are culturally inclusive. For example, they hosted a variety of in-store Diwali celebrations throughout the country. A pre-advertised Diwali celebration in Cambridge, Ontario went viral on TikTok recently, with the video including workers beating dhols and singing. While these are great initiatives on the surface, they expose a deep issue with corporations exploiting cultural symbols and traditions for profit.
In an interview with BBC, professor Nirmalya Kumar from Singapore Management University argued that due to “its timing,” Diwali could “end up becoming part of a broader fall-winter holiday ritual,” and fade into just “another holiday party.” The South Asian population comprises 7.1% of the total Canadian population, out of which 44.3% are Indian. Corporations are using this population to their advantage, watering down the diversity of South Asian cultural celebrations by shoving them under the broad umbrella of Diwali. Turning Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas into a “broader holiday ritual” will only further dilute our cultures at the hands of corporate greed. Thus, we must ignore corporations who are promoting culture as a way to meet a new market.
Commercialization of culture is not the only thing that South Asians have been experiencing. Political campaigns now use festivities as an excuse to promote or expand their platforms. Last year at the Vaisakhi parade in Surrey, I remember seeing the Conservative Party touting their policy to put a direct flight between the city of Amritsar and Canada. This was in the middle of a festival that celebrates the creation of the Khalsa Order. This is a wildly inappropriate ploy to try to get votes from the Sikh community and other people who are welcome to attend religious parades and festivals. There is also a general increase in meddling by politicians into our religious spaces when it’s not festival season. When federal election campaigns come around, I can fully expect to see a political candidate in my local Gurdwara trying to siphon votes from the Sikh community. This is once again an indicator of how politicized our cultural values have become at the hands of politicians.
If we continue on our path of politicizing and commodifying cultural celebrations, what will be left to celebrate? Our diversity needs to be celebrated and appreciated by the broader society without the dilution of the distinctions that make it beautiful. In accordance with this principle, why not do more to celebrate Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas in our schools? Or why not educate ourselves on the distinction between the two festivals, rather than combining them into one and disregarding their diversity? Social washing — strategies used by corporations to seem more socially responsible — has risen to become a dangerous trend. This could destroy individuality and cultural identity over time.
Corporations are misguided when promoting “diverse” cultural events such as Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas. This is not OK. If we want to promote cultural celebrations from any faith, it is important that we take an organic lens and spread awareness of the different holidays through our education systems, and create long lasting change to how we view corporations and the role of capitalism in the commodification of traditional holidays.
