Diwali at White House: Joe Biden hosts celebration with Indian Americans

The celebration of the festival of lights on Monday featured a special recorded message from Indian American NASA astronaut Sunita Williams

Published on: Oct 29, 2024 10:32 AM IST

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US president Joe Biden hosted a Diwali celebration in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, with more than 600 Indian American congressman, business executives and imminent personalities in audience.  (Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg)

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President Joe Biden entered the event holding the hands of Soren on the left and Zara on the right - the children of US congressional representative Ro Khanna. The event was an ode to the achievements of South Asian Americans and their importance to the country's democracy, ahead of the presidential elections. (AP)

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The president continued the tradition of celebrating Diwali, which has been a practice since 2003 and reminisced about the first ever Diwali reception being held in 2016, hosted by him and first lady Jill Biden. The president also expressed the importance of diversity in his administration, including the role of current vice president Kamala Harris as well as US surgeon general Vivek Murthy. ((AP Photo/Ben Curtis))

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US surgeon general Vivek Murthy was also one of the speakers during the event who recently travelled to traveled to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru to commemorate World Mental Health Day. Murthy is the first surgeon general of Indian descent, and his parents hail from Karnataka. Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) ((Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP))

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The president also lit a formal diya in the White House and remarked about the importance of such “light” in the journey of American democracy. Calling the upcoming elections an “inflection point” he stated that just as times have changed from suspicion and hatred towards immigrants to now the proud celebration of Diwali, the elections would be a deciding factor for the country.  (AP)

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The Diwali event was made even more special with a recorded video message from Sunita "Suni" Williams, a retired U.S. navy officer and NASA astronaut. In her message from the International Space Station, she said, “This year I have the unique opportunity to celebrate Diwali from 260 miles above the earth on the ISS." The Indian American also spoke about the importance of festivals like Diwali and keeping up with her cultural roots. (AP)