In India celebrates Diwali festival in autumn

B: Happy Diwali! Dr Hemant Kumar told us that Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere. It is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, and, recently, Sindh province in Pakistan. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, it signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.

A: Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, beside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed. The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika in the Bikram Sambat calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid-November.

B: In Vietnam, Diwali Fest 2017 was held by the Indian Chamber of Commerce attracting approximately 1,200 people in HCM City last Saturday. Not all the attendees were Hindus, but they attended the festival with friends to share the festive atmosphere. The festival brought to the stage singer Purva Mantri and Bollywood singer Ravi Shukla, the winner of the India Star Voice contest in its second season. Guests were offered an authentic experience of India, including Indian cuisine, traditional Indian dancing and musical performances, and a free flow of drinks.

A: It’s great that cultural exchange has popularized religious celebrations outside their home community. The fun and human side of the events bring people of different cultures, religions, and countries together.

B: We received an email from Gerry Neumann of England. He hasn’t written to us for a long time. He explained: “This is partly because I started listening to VOV English on the internet after I found that reception on shortwave to Europe became too bad some months ago. I have, however, continued to listen to VOV regularly, and enjoy the mix of informative programs like the Sunday Show. On 15th October this featured ‘Improvisational comedy’, which first appeared in Hanoi in 2005 and where everything is made up “on the spot”, usually prompted by a word suggested by somebody in the audience.”

A: It’s a pity to knew that our shortwave signal was too bad for comfortable listening. We hope the frequency changes for our winter broadcasts will make it better. Mr. Neumann, we’re glad to hear you’re going to visit VN in December. “After my visit to Vietnam at Tet this year, I am now preparing for my next visit to Hanoi. This will be for the wedding of the daughter of my good friends in early December. Vietnamese weddings are very different from the ones in the UK, so I’m really looking forward to being involved in the one in Hanoi.”

B: You’re always welcome to visit our station in Hanoi. We’ve talked a lot about the traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony. I’m sure you’ll find it even more interesting in person. We’re hoping to see you here at VOV.

A: As for the reception quality, we’ve received a lot of remarks about the frequencies beamed to many parts of the world. Héctor Frías Jofré of Chile reported that there was a lot of noise and signal fade on the frequency of 12020khz on October 15. SINPO rating was 33222. He used a hyper-portable receiver the TECSUN PL-380 with 250 memory slots in shortwave and a small antenna.

B: Eddy Prabowo of Indonesia reported listening to VOV on October 16 on the frequency of 7315 kHz. He said there was strong signal strength combined with minor fading and minor noise. He gave a SINPO rating of 55445. Richard Nowak of the US said the show on October 16 on 7315 kHz came in very good with SINPO at 45444. He has listening with an Icom IC-R75 hooked up to an outdoor active loop antenna mounted at 6 meters. He said the signal has been getting weaker for the past week.

A: Kostiantyn Pravotorov of Ukraine listened to VOV on September 7 on the frequency of 9840 khz using a Grundig WR-5405 with a 1-m long telescopic antenna. He rated SINPO at 35343. We’ve forwarded your remarks to our technicians to process. We expect the transmission to be better after we change over to winter broadcast later this month. We’ll inform you of the changes on shortwave and send you our latest frequency list by post mail or email.

B: We’ll verify your reports and send our QSL cards as soon as possible. We hope that the QSL cards will reach you as quickly as you expect, unlike the case of Tjang Pak Ning of Indonesia. He wrote us: “To let you know that I have just received, yesterday, on October 9^th, four verification cards for my reception reports of April 5th, May 8th, June 11^th and July 5^th in 3 separate covers with the postal mark Hanoi--July 18^th, 2017, with 19,000 VND metered postage. Thanks to all of you. At last I got those four QSL cards, though it took more than 2 and a half months to travel from Hanoi to BINJAI-Indonesia. Now I am waiting for QSL cards for my August, September, and October reception reports. It is unusual for postal mail to arrive after such a long time. But they all reached me safely at the end of a long journey. Thanks also for your email of October 9th 2017.

A: A couple of weeks ago we mentioned José LLamos Camejo, a journalist and President of UPEC in Guantánamo, Cuba. He won a prize in Vietnam’s 2017 External Information Service Contest. Jose donated 20% of his 660 USD prize to victims of typhoon Doksuri in Vietnam’s central region.

A: This week, on learning about the recent floods in many northern and central Vietnamese provinces, Jose sent this message: “On behalf of all Guantanamo journalists, I extend our solidarity and our encouragement to all our Vietnamese brothers and sisters, particularly the families of those dead, missing or injured as a result of the heavy floods that have occurred in the northeastern provinces and central coast of Vietnam. In this difficult time, know that each of us proffers a helping hand to ease the pain, and a voice to comfort those who have lost family or property. The Vietnamese are accustomed to difficult tests and once again they will be victorious. A brotherly embrace from Cuba”.

B: Thank you very much, José, for your message of brotherhood. In recent days, Vietnamese people nationwide have turned their hearts and minds toward the flood victims. Individuals and organizations have made donations of cash and staple goods to help our countrymen recover quickly.

A: Time is up for the Letter Box. We’ll be back next Wednesday. Until then, please send your feedback to: English Section, VOVworld, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Goodbye.