I WAS a nosey only child who would sometimes spend lazy afternoons peering across over my neighbour’s boundary wall, hoping to catch glimpse of a mango hanging over from their side to ours or merely just procrastinating from doing homework.

However during Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights celebrated by millions of Hindus and Jains across the world every year in autumn – the terracotta lamps called diyas, filled with caster oil-soaked cotton wool wicks dotted across my Hindu friends' homes in Karachi, filled me with wonder and excitement. I wondered why we didn’t do the same but, most of all, I knew this meant that evening we would receive a rather substantial amount of mithai (sweets) from our neighbours to have after dinner.

But, since I grew up in a primarily Muslim country, I did not know much else about Diwali except for what I read about or heard from other Hindu friends. When I moved to the UK, I found that I learned a lot more about other global festivals.

Diwali coincides with the Hindu New Year, rejoicing new beginnings and a celebration of the triumph of good over darkness. Dictated by the Hindu lunar calendar, this year Diwali falls on October 19 and has many legends attached to it. Hindus celebrate the return of Rama and Sita and the defeat of Ravana. It lasts five days and is marked with street parties and fireworks, and family visiting one another.

Like most south Asian festivities, food plays a central part of celebrations, and so in search of understanding the real flavour of Diwali, I turned to someone who I met during one of my BBC Radio Scotland recordings.

Chef and owner of Tabla Restaurant, Praveen Kumar, is now based in Perth and his food really impressed me. It was not just the flavours he enticed us with that made an impression, but his journey to Scotland, his food ethos and passion. Kumar uses only the spices from his family spice farm in India, but most of all, his love for him homeland and cuisine struck a chord with me. Having grown up in India, I knew he would be happy to share his memories of Diwali.

Kumar’s story is inspirational. He grew up and lived in a small village in southern India called Mattampally. He initially left home at 14, not to pursue a career in food, but to become a priest. The lure of the western world lead him to leave the pursuit of priesthood at 17, and he studied hotel management with a hope to move to the west.

“I studied a bachelors degree in hotel management for four years and was the first person in the county to achieve this – this was seen as alien,” says Kumar.

Kumar said his family thought that this was a "complete waste of time". Remarkably, in order to show his commitment he even resorted to a 14-day hunger strike.

He finally convinced his father to invest £1,000 in his studies, for one year. Kumar said: “This was the total amount of money that the family would make for a year, harvesting and selling the crops.”

The next year his father had to sell some of his land and his parents did what they had to for him to get through his studies. Kumar also undertook all varieties of menial jobs to see him through his degree. Through sheer determination, Kumar finally arrived at Turnberry via Jamaica and then on to Gleneagles for four years. But it was in 2009 that he opened his own restaurant called Tabla, which achieved an AA Rosette in 2012.

Being Indian and having been bought up in India, he has some fond memoires relating to Diwali, Praveen’s most precious memory was going home for Diwali from college, celebrating the time with family and enjoying the family feasts, firecrakers and fireworks.

I wondered how had Kumar translated this flavour of festivity in Scotland and how he is teaching his daughter’s how to uphold this sense of tradition in a foreign country. Kumar said: “In Perth there are around 200 Indian immigrants and we all get together to keep the traditions alive, and enjoy the classic food of India during this festival. It is important for me that my daughters know their heritage food and enjoy Indian celebrations.”

For Kumar, someone who has embraced Scottish life, he is still fiercely devoted to preserving his Indian culture in his home. Kumar and his wife Swarna teach their children all about their culture as well as their native language called Telugu. As Kumar said: “It is quite important to me that they never lose that, as Indian culture is wild and beautiful. Just like them.”

Indians make up a huge part of Scottish community, and as a Pakistani settled here, I know and understand how the Scots embrace immigrants and various communities that have chosen Scotland as home. Diwali and its stunning stories, food and cultural beauty is indeed mesmerizing and people like Kumar invite other Indians and Scots alike to celebrate this festival with them. He said: “They simple need to let go and embrace the culture. We invite local officials and such to these events as we'd like to see it grow and become a larger part of Scottish culture. The more people involved the better.”

I agree wholeheartedly, in a world of such unnecessary divide, it is food, laughter and togetherness as community that unites us all.

Praveen’s Baingan Ka Pakora (Aubergine Pakora)

This recipe is something Kumar cooks during Diwali. In Kumar’s words: “This is quite simply a gram flour batter, with a variety of spices covering large slices of aubergine.”

Kumar wishes all "Deepavali Shubhakanshalu!”

Baingan ka Pakora

250 grams gram floor

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp curry power

1/4 tsp chilli power

1/4 tsp garama masala power

Pinch of turmeric power

Pinch of carom seeds

1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 stems of curry leaf

2 green chillies chopped

1 small bunch of coriander leaves chopped

1 large Aubergine

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method

Make thick dough of gram floor by adding all above. Slice aubergine as thin as a £1 coin. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, dip the sliced aubergine in the batter and place in the oil. Cook until they are golden drown.