The hardest part of keeping a festival abroad is rarely belief. It is supply, and it is the absence of the people who used to handle the parts you never learned.
Substitutions that hold
What can change without the ritual losing its shape:
- Any local flower stands in for marigold. Colour matters more than species.
- A tealight is a lamp. It is not a lesser lamp.
- Seasonal fruit replaces the fruit you can't find. Fresh beats correct.
- A voice note from home counts as the chant if nobody present knows it.
The one thing to plan ahead
Timing. Festival timings follow the panchang in Indian time, and observing at the correct local hour rarely matches. Pick the hour that lets you be present and unhurried, and keep it consistent year to year — that consistency is what turns an improvised evening into your family's version.