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.
Over time, she began looking at stories as a way to understand the world and build human connections. Murty also shared how her Diwali celebrations changed over the years as she lived in different countries. 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. “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.
Murty said these stories stayed with her as she grew older and travelled to different parts of the world. 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. 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. 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.
