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From Bengaluru to Downing Street: Akshata Murty reflects on celebrating Diwali around the world
In the LinkedIn post, Akshata Murty shared how her Diwali celebrations changed over the years as she lived in different countries.
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Akshata Murty, wife of former British prime minister Rishi Sunak, has reflected on her childhood Diwali celebrations in Bengaluru and how the festival has remained a constant in her life despite moving across countries.
In a post shared on LinkedIn, Murty recalled growing up in Bengaluru, where Diwali was a special time marked by sparklers, delicious food and festive celebrations. However, she said it was the stories associated with the festival that made it particularly memorable for her. “Most of all it was about the stories we were told, year after year that made the festive season so memorable,” she wrote.
“Stories brought to life in the form of Lord Rama and his devoted wife Sita returning home to Ayodhya, of Lord Krishna defeating the demon Narakasura, of Goddess Lakshmi showering her blessings on devotees, and so many more. It was always the stories I most looked forward to during Deepawali,” she added.
(Also Read: Video: Rishi Sunak visits Delhi's Bengali Sweet House with Sudha Murty, orders chai and rasmalai)
From Bengaluru to celebrations abroad
Murty said these stories stayed with her as she grew older and travelled to different parts of the world. Over time, she began looking at stories as a way to understand the world and build human connections.
“To me, these are stories that show that light always envelops darkness, that good trounces evil and that knowledge beats ignorance,” she wrote, adding that people did not need to be Hindu or Indian to understand their message.
Murty also shared how her Diwali celebrations changed over the years as she lived in different countries. In California, she said that the festival meant calling home at an inconvenient hour, while in North Yorkshire, she celebrated by lighting sparklers with her daughters before enjoying mithai together.
In London, the celebrations involved lighting diyas outside her doorstep while wearing a thick coat. She also recalled celebrating Diwali in Downing Street during Sunak’s tenure as British prime minister.
(Also Read: ‘He used to visit me quite regularly’: Akshata Murty recalls first memories of father Narayana Murthy)
Diwali celebrations at Downing Street
Murty said that for a few years, Downing Street was filled with people who came to witness Diwali being celebrated there by a Hindu prime minister for the first time. “A festival we treasured back home in Bangalore, at the centre of British public life, and nobody thinking it strange. That’s Britain at its best,” she wrote.
Reflecting on how the festival had travelled with her, Murty said that while the food, weather and surroundings changed, its underlying message remained the same.
“The food, the weather and the setting changed every time. The story never did; light, in all its forms, finding its way home, wherever home happened to be,” she wrote.
She also spoke about Diwali celebrations across the UK, mentioning Leicester’s illuminated streets, school halls in Scotland decorated with rangoli and families in Wales sharing the festival’s stories with their neighbours. “The story has travelled a long way and found a home here, like me,” Murty wrote, concluding her post by wishing everyone a happy Deepawali.
