DIWALI means something different to every family who celebrates it in Australia, and in Ipswich those differences are shaped by the journeys people took to get here.
For some, Diwali is a tradition carried across continents and kept alive through food, faith and community.
For others, it’s a celebration they’ve had to rediscover later in life, rebuilding cultural identity in a country their parents or grandparents never imagined calling home.
It’s astory reflected in the life of Ipswich local Raj Sharma, who has spent decades blending old traditions with the new world he now calls home.
Raj migrated from India in 1999, arriving in Brisbane to study hotel management before working across Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast.
Eventually, he settled in Ipswich and opened Indian Mehfil, now one of the city’s oldest Indian restaurants.
For him, Diwali has always been about generosity.
“Diwali Festival is all about giving,” he said.
“We used to hold four to five hundred people in front of the restaurant every year, and whatever we earned, we gave to charity.”
For more than a decade, Raj hosted Ipswich’s largest Diwali celebration, a vibrant, open air festival that drew crowds from across the region.
He remembers the early years – Ipswich had very few Indian families, and Indian Mehfil was one of the only cultural touchpoints in town, yet the community embraced the festival and culture.
“I always felt the warm love and affection from Ipswich people,” he said. “Everyone who came was local, interested in our culture, and supported everything we did.”
Covid-19 brought those large gatherings to an end, and Raj’s health has made it harder to revive them.
But Diwali hasn’t disappeared from his life, it has simply changed shape, he now celebrates with his family, his staff and the people who walk through his restaurant doors.
“Any festival is about family and getting together,” he said. “That’s what Christmas is, and that’s what Diwali is.”
Raj’s children were born in Australia, and he sees their upbringing as a blend of two worlds.
“My duty is to inform them about both cultures,” he said. “It’s their world now, they choose how they want to see it.”
For Raj, Diwali in Ipswich is no longer the huge street festival it once was, but its spirit remains.
