GEORGE TOWN: Eighteen-year-old M. Resshama could have chosen to celebrate Deepavali with her relatives or friends today, but the teenager decided to go back "home" to the Ramakrishna Ashram orphanage at Jalan Masjid Negeri here to celebrate the Festival of Lights with her “brothers and sisters.”
Although busy with her studies in nursing and currently staying at a hostel, Resshama decided to take time off to celebrate Deepavali with the other residents of the orphanage.
"They had asked if I would be there to celebrate Deepavali with them, as how I used to do.
"That’s why I was determined to go back. I feel a sense of solace when we are together. The atmosphere also feels far more festive when I am with them,” she told the New Straits Times when met at the orphanage today.
Currently, there are 43 residents in the home with a majority of them still schooling.
Resshama said she was equally responsible to give guidance and motivation to the other youngsters living there, and she could not have picked a better time to do it than on this auspicious day.
She even made murukku for the kids and her mother, who visited her during Deepavali.
P. Karpagam, 42, said she felt joyous to see her daughter all grown up and becoming a more responsible person.
"My husband passing away was the most difficult moment for me. I have three children and my income was never enough to take care of them.
"I was reluctant at first to place Resshama at the home, but seeing how she is doing well in her studies today and furthering her tertiary studies, it makes me feel happy and more at peace," said the mother, who works as a security guard at a shopping mall.
Ramakrishna Ashram chairman, K. Ramasamy, said that the Deepavali celebration has been more merry year after year.
“The kids are happy. Seeing them smiling and enjoying themselves for Deepavali is the best feeling ever," he added.
Meanwhile in Kuantan, it has been a heart-warming Deepavali too for B. Navinraj and his family. The navigation officer of a cargo freighter, who is away on international waters for long stretches at a time, treasured the opportunity to celebrate the Festival of Lights with his parents and three siblings.
"I am very glad to be able to come here with my family," said the 33-year-old when met at the Sri Mariamman Temple with his parents and siblings earlier today.
Navinraj mused that for the past nine years he had spent Deepavali mostly on board a ship in as far as South Africa and the European subcontinent due to his work.
"Deepavali is a time meant to be celebrated with loved ones," he said but added that he has no regrets as his family is very supportive of his work.
His mother, Rita Gopal, 60, chimed in that Deepavali is a celebration of family togetherness and this year in particular has been particularly meaningful as all her four children made it home for their family reunion.