SANDAKAN – Like many across Malaysia, Ramesh Nagaiah and Sunithah Kesavan celebrated Deepavali under the conditional movement control order (CMCO) that has been imposed in most states.
Mother-of-two Sunithah, 49, continued her annual tradition of taking an oil bath at 5.30am before putting on a new sari and joining her 55-year-old husband for prayers.
This year, she bought her sari online, and the couple opted to pray at home, forgoing their routine of going to the temple.
The sole Hindu temple here, Sri Sithi Vinayagar, is open to devotees, with health and safety standard operating procedures in place.
There are fewer than 100 Hindu families here.
Sunithah said it was her first time celebrating Deepavali without her children.
Her 24-year-old son is working in Kota Kinabalu, while her 20-year-old daughter is studying in Kuala Lumpur. Both were unable to return home due to travel curbs under the CMCO.
In previous years, Sunithah and Ramesh would invite more than 200 guests to their home for the Festival of Lights, but this time, they visited her parents, who live 3km away.
Sunithah said she had a video call with her children.
“I miss my children terribly. I also miss having a large group prayer session.”
She added that she loves prayer sessions at the temple as that was where she met her husband, a teacher from Perak who was transferred here.
The family have been living in Sandakan for 30 years.
To keep the Deepavali spirit alive, Sunithah spent four days making “palagaram” (small bites), including muruku, cithu urandai, laddu and achu muruku.
“I knew that the palagaram is only for my family this year, so it took me just four days to make it.
“Usually, I would need more than a week to make these delicacies for guests on Deepavali.” – The Vibes, November 15, 2020
