Consulate General of India

University of Western Australia Diwali 2025:
Guy Littlefair, Deputy Vice Chancellor (education and Student Experience)
Nikita Talluri, President, UWA Students’ Guild,
Members of the Association for Indian Culture Sanskriti
Student Support at UWA,
UWA Tamil Cultural Society,
UWA Hindu Yuva,
Dear students, faculty, and friends, 

Kaya, Good evening, Namaste.

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, and pay my respects to their Elders - past, present and emerging.

I am honoured and delighted to be in your midst to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. According to ancient traditions, Diwali is observed on the darkest night at the onset of autumn. The onset of winter is begun with the message of the power of light to renew life, the promise of spring that lies in the heart of autumn. The power of a single flickering flame in cutting through the void of darkness represents the power of courage, truth, and knowledge to bring together humanity against strife, evil, and ignorance.

Like all festivals across cultures, it’s about the kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, tastes, and fragrances that add those warm and brilliant spots in our memories. It’s also about how we learn to set aside our petty differences and worries for a few days to just let go and enjoy ourselves. That in itself comprises of acts of forgiveness, of self-realisation, of embracing the duties of living in a harmonious and healthy society. It is an act of healing and moving forward in hope.

It is thus about food – food that is prepared at home and shared with the neighbourhood, it’s about dressing up and putting your best self forward, it’s about opening your doors to relatives and guests, and it’s about giving to those who are less fortunate and in need.

I thus thank the students of the University of Western Australia for all your hard work and efforts in organising such an amazing party for all of us to join in and enjoy. I know that all of you work and study very hard. We are very proud of what you have achieved and wish you the very best in your lives. You embody youthful dreams that will be the building blocks of the world’s future. May you carry on the flames of inquiry, research, rationality, imagination, adventure and idealism. May you achieve what we were unable to even dream of.

Thank you.