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NRI Diwali celebrations in Leicester- crowd over 100,000

 


Diwali wattage set to dazzle multicultural Leicester


LEICESTER, October 22 2005
IANS

It is said that no place outside India can hold a candle to the dazzling show that this multicultural city in Britain's East Midlands puts up during Diwali - and this year is no exception.

On Sunday, a total of 6,000 bulbs will be switched on to mark the beginning of glittering Diwali celebrations along the Golden Mile on Belgrave Road, an area mainly inhabited by Asians of Gujarati origin.

Amidst milling crowds of over 100,000, the garland of lights will be switched on by Ramanbhai Barber, president of Shree Sanatan Mandir temple, and his wife, Khushman.

Barber said: "I'm delighted to be part of this year's festival. It is a great honour for me and my wife to switch on Leicester's famous Diwali lights. I would like to wish everyone a very happy Diwali and a happy and healthy new year."

The Leicester City Council has spent nearly 100,000 pounds on new decorations for Diwali this year, making it one of the largest official allocations for the festival of light in Britain.

A council spokeswoman said: "We have replaced all the lights in Belgrave Road and there is a brand new look for Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre.

"All the motifs have been replaced and designed with new diya lamps and symbols."

The ceremony to switch on the lights will be followed by a range of entertainment shows attended by people of various ethnicities and religions - a distinctive feature of multicultural Leicester.

Maganbhai Patel, president of the Leicester Hindu Festival Council, said: "We are expecting people to come from Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester and London - it is the best and biggest celebration outside of India."

Leicester's large Asian population mainly comprises Gujaratis who were expelled from Idi Amin's Uganda in the early 1970s.

They have since prospered and integrated in British society in such a way that Leicester is often held up as an ideal of multiculturalism in not only Britain but entire Europe.

Meanwhile, a London-based entrepreneur of Indian origin has launched a 'desi' version of the most traditional English board game, Monopoly, to coincide with Diwali festivities.

The new version of Monopoly will be made up of well-known Asian roads and streets from all over Britain.

Favourites like Brick Lane in London and Wilmslow Road in Manchester replace celebrated London streets like Park Lane, Trafalgar Square and Old Kent Road, and Mayfair is taken up by the Washington Hotel Mayfair, a popular haunt of Bollywood stars.

The inventor of the new board, Gurdip Ahluwalia, 33, said the game was filling a hole in an "untapped" market.

He said: "It is the first time ever a game has been produced by a mainstream manufacturer for an Asian market.

"I am immensely proud to have in a small way contributed to Asian heritage and adding to Britain's multicultural effect."

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