Indians remember Savita at Diwali celebration

The Indian community in the West put on a spectacular show of their traditional culture at the annual Diwali Festival in Galway.

Diwali means a “row of lights” and the festival seeks to dispel the darkness of ignorance and light the way for people’s journey through life. It celebrates the triumph of good over evil, righteousness over treachery, and truth over falsehood.

It is one of the most vibrant festivals celebrated by Hindus and marks the country’s glorious past, with people decorating their houses with lights and distributing sweets and gifts.

Galway City mayor Padraig Conneely looks on as Anuradha Galav, Devi Chalikonda, and Moushumi Mandal perform Aarti of Laxmi Ganesh at Diwali celebrations at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Galway. Pic: Andrew Downes

Indian food and dancing, along with traditional as well as Bollywood music, featured in the spectacular show attended by hundreds at the Radisson Hotel in Galway City.

But the celebrations were tinged with sadness as the large Indian population in Galway — NUIG accounts for more than 20% of the entire Indian third-level population in Ireland — remembered the late Savita Halappanavar.

The young dentist had been judged the outstanding dancer at the 2010 Diwali Festival in Galway. She instantly agreed to a request to teach dance to children of the Indian community.

However, she lost her life in tragic circumstances at Galway University Hospital last year.

She was 17 weeks pregnant when she went to the Galway hospital on Oct 21 suffering from severe back pain. It was discovered that she was miscarrying. She had asked for a termination early on in her hospital stay, but this was refused. Her condition worsened and she died in the hospital on Oct 28.

Galway mayor Cllr Padraig Conneely paid tribute to Savita and to the courage of her husband, Praveen, and her friends in the Indian community for their unity and dignity following her death.