For many South Asians, Diwali is a time of light and reflection. It is a festival rooted in renewal, faith, and the victory of good over evil. Homes glow with diyas, kitchens fill with the fragrance of sweets, and families gather in joy. But for Mala, a young Indian American professional, Diwali becomes something else entirely: a cultural performance.
In the workplace, Mala is praised for her competence, reliability, and “great attitude.” Yet as the office’s only Indian employee, she’s also quietly assigned another role: cultural ambassador. When her boss casually announces that Mala will be responsible for hosting the company’s Diwali celebration, it’s framed as an honor. A chance to “share her culture.” A fun morale booster. What’s left unsaid is the pressure.
When Representation Becomes Tokenism
Mala didn’t ask to represent an entire diaspora. She didn’t volunteer to educate her colleagues or stage a festival steeped in personal meaning for corporate entertainment. Yet she’s expected to smile, comply, and be grateful.
This is the heart of A Diwali Dilemma, a story that resonates far beyond South Asian communities. It explores a familiar experience for many people of color: when inclusion feels conditional, and visibility comes with invisible labor.
Tokenism often disguises itself as celebration. The request sounds flattering, even progressive. But it places the burden of diversity on individuals rather than institutions by asking them to package their identity neatly, conveniently, and without discomfort.
The Emotional Toll Of Being “The Only One”
As Mala prepares for the Diwali event, cracks begin to show. She juggles work deadlines, cultural expectations, and her own unraveling mental health. The celebration meant to honor light instead amplifies her burnout.
What makes this story especially powerful is that it doesn’t villainize culture itself; it critiques the system that commodifies it. Diwali isn’t the problem. The problem is a workplace that values diversity as optics rather than responsibility.
A Feminine Re-imagining of a Classic Tale
In a subtle and brilliant twist, A Diwali Dilemma mirrors the structure of A Christmas Carol. Instead of ghosts, Mala is visited by three women: mentors from her past who guide her through reflection, confrontation, and ultimately, reclamation. Their message is clear: honoring your culture doesn’t mean sacrificing who you are.
Why This Story Matters Right Now
In an era where Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are both celebrated and scrutinized, A Diwali Dilemma asks an essential question: Who pays the emotional cost of “inclusion”? The story gives voice to countless professionals who have been asked to perform their identity: to translate, explain, and soften their culture for spaces that aren’t designed with them in mind.
It reminds us that real inclusion isn’t about potlucks or holidays on the calendar. It’s about equity, consent, and shared responsibility.
Lighting The Way Forward
By the end of A Diwali Dilemma, Mala doesn’t reject her culture; she reclaims it on her own terms. With boundaries intact. With her dignity centered. And that may be the brightest light of all.
Watch the entire compelling short series now on YouTube.
Follow MohaDoha Productions @MohaDohaProds on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!
Meet The Cast:
- Levin Valayil (The Descendants 5)
- Priya Dev (India Sweets and Spices)
- Priya Pappu (Me Against the World)
- Ruth Kaufman (She Hulk, The Miseducation of Bindu)
- Saniya Mirwani (IG following 59K)
- Walter Buck (Creed III, Ghosted)
- Virginia Vogt (The Stalker, Sleepy Hollow)
About The Award-Winning Indie Filmmaker, Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
Mohana is a South Asian American novelist, scholar, and screenwriter with a PhD in English who tells women-centric stories in unusual settings.
In her routines and writing, audiences experience what it means to be brown and female in a supposedly post-racial era. Mohana creates humorous feminist and cultural content, like in her solo show Being Brown is My Superpower, in which she channels a lifetime of cultural misunderstandings. An award-winning novelist, she writes compelling characters in diverse settings. Named a SheWrites New Novelist, with several Best Indie book titles, in the Crimes in Arabia series, she explores the seams of life in the Arabian Gulf through the eyes of a female Arab detective and her grumpy cop sidekick turned husband.
Her screenwriting has also been recognized by the Austin Film Festival, the Humanitas Awards, the WrapWomen Pitch Fest, and the BRIC Open TV Pitch competition. Most recently, she wrote and produced Me Against the World, a collegiate romantic comedy, with diverse leads and a sports element, which has been named a Best American Short, Best Romantic comedy, and an official selection at 8 international film festivals and a winner at 5. In her second short film, American Baby, an Indian expat couple tries to order tacos for the first time and inadvertently holds up the lunch line.
She is also founder and creative director of the Short Film Lab, an incubator for first time female filmmakers in their teens and twenties based in the Middle East.
You can follow her journey as she adapts her short stories into feature films on Twitter or Instagram.
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