For Anuradha Chakraborty, a Dubai resident, celebrations will begin only after her daughter returns from university.
\u201cMy daughter has evening classes on Diwali day. Since she\u2019s in her fourth year at Heriot-Watt University doing Computer Science, she usually has classes from 6 to 9pm. However, her professors have said that Indian students can go home early on Monday if they wish to celebrate,\u201d she said.
\u201cAlthough the festival is important, studying is also equally important. When you are living in a foreign country, you have to follow the rules of that country,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019ll have some guests over late evening, wait for her to return, and then we\u2019ll light the lamps and sit down for dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Anuradha](\"https:\/\/imgengine.khaleejtimes.com\/khaleejtimes-english\/2025-10-19\/d1aw585m\/Anuradha_Family.jpg?width=1200&height=800&format=auto\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anuradha Chakraborty and her family<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt may be a working day, but once those diyas are lit, it still feels like Diwali, I think it\u2019s the vibe,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Divisha Modi, a physiotherapist living in Greens, Diwali will start early and end late. In many Indian households across the UAE, that evening glow will symbolise connection \u2014 a quiet but meaningful reminder of home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Divisha Modi and her son<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dubai resident Karthik Chopra said his family had already had their festive moments over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrankly, it\u2019s going to be a working day for everyone. My wife and I are both working, and my son returns to school after his half-term break. The weekend was all about enjoying with friends and family, but Monday is back to the grind as usual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy son helped in decorating the backyard with lights and lamps \u2014 that was the high point during the weekend. Also, my wife made the Rangoli <\/em>(colourful patterns on the floor). It was a fun, family activity, we lent her a hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn Monday, after school, my son even has co-curricular activities, so by the time he\u2019s back, it\u2019ll be around 4.30pm. Once my wife and I return from work, we\u2019ll light the earthen lamps \u2014 it\u2019s more symbolic than ever, and more for our son, to give him a glimpse of the Indian culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chopra added that his family has already prepared a few festive favourites to savour through the week. \u201cMy wife, with the assistance of the house help, made <\/strong>laddoos and gujiyas <\/strong>(Indian sweets), <\/strong>and we\u2019ve bought some <\/strong>kaju katli and soan papdi <\/strong>from an Indian sweet shop nearby. Even if we can\u2019t have a big celebration on the day, those sweets bring that unmistakable Diwali flavour to our home. Additionally, we may have some neighbours visiting us briefly to exchange greetings, as we have an Indian family living next door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Khaleej times<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Published: 19 October 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many families said this Diwali will be about balancing routines with rituals As the Indian community in the UAE gears up to\u00a0celebrate Diwali on Monday, this year\u2019s \u201cfestival of lights\u201d comes with a familiar weekday reality \u2014office hours, school schedules, and after-work rituals taking the place of all-day festivities. With the first day of school […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":34747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5175,5177,5179,5178,5176],"class_list":["post-34746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cultural-events-dubai","tag-diwali-in-dubai","tag-dubai-expats-celebration","tag-festival-of-lights-uae","tag-indian-community-in-dubai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34748,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34746\/revisions\/34748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"'Still](\"https:\/\/imgengine.khaleejtimes.com\/khaleejtimes-english\/2025-10-19\/wkvwjaih\/Anuradha_House_1.jpeg?width=1200&height=800&format=auto\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nQuiet reminder of home<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will go to work as usual \u2014 I have patients lined up. But before going to work, I might visit the temple in the morning,\u201d she said. \u201cMy son is returning to school after a week\u2019s mid-term break, so it\u2019s back to school for him and back to routine for the entire family.\u201d
Evening time, she said, is when the festive touch returns. \u201cAfter I return from work, I\u2019ll call up my family in India to wish them. We\u2019ll switch on the lights we\u2019ve put up in the balconies. That glow itself feels festive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Divisha](\"https:\/\/imgengine.khaleejtimes.com\/khaleejtimes-english\/2025-10-19\/qvyyfbdh\/Divisha-Modi-and-son.jpg?width=1200&height=800&format=auto\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\nWeekend celebrations, weekday routines<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n