|
[Indiana] Celebrate Diwali |
Celebrate Diwali
Hundreds of students gather to commemorate Indian New Year with banquet, dancing
By Chip Cutter | Indiana Daily Student |
Monday, November 14, 2005
Full-text article on Indiana Daily Student
As
the house lights lowered at Jackson Creek Middle School Saturday night,
audience members cheered in excitement. Music swelled. Performers
slowly drifted on stage.
Diwali, an ancient Indian holiday, had begun.
Commemorating the Indian New Year and fall harvest, Diwali is
celebrated by about one billion people worldwide. The holiday
represents the triumphs of ancient lords over evils. In India, it is
celebrated during a period of five days, a time when citizens exchange
gifts, hold dinners, shoot firecrackers and light candles.
The IU community came together to celebrate the event, which was
organized by the Indian Student Association and sponsored through funds
provided by the IU Student Association and its Commitment to Assist
Student Initiatives.
Promoted to provide "a kaleidoscope of Indian culture," the evening
included performances ranging from traditional Rajasthani folk dances,
with one dancer furiously swirling red powder while spinning in
circles, to a 1980s Hindi dance medley and an Indo-Western fusion,
which served as the finale.
During the first act, a vocal duet showed the range of genres, with seniors Mallika Singh and Omar Khan shifting from
Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" to a classical Indian song and, later,
to Destiny Child's "Soldier." The Indo-Western fusion, featuring up to
20 performers on stage at one time, included members from IU's Sequel
hip-hop dance team, and took two months to plan.
"It's like fast ballet to slow music and we never really moved like
that before," said senior Melissa Gholston, a Sequel captain. "For me
it was challenging because I've never done ballet before, I was
strictly hip-hop."
Intermixed between the dance and vocal acts were presentations from the
ISA and related groups, including the Association for India's
Development, and frequent skits between the emcees who portrayed
Bollywood movies and their common plots where men chase after women.
"It's different from other things I've gone to," said sophomore Faye
Parmer, who attended Diwali for the first time during the weekend. "The
music, the costumes are so colorful you can tell it comes from a rich
cultural tradition."
ISA President Karan Chaudhri said this year's event was the largest in
recent memory, with a diverse audience of an estimated 750 people, some
of whom were forced to stand around the sides of the auditorium.
For Dr. Kupusamy Umapathy, a nephrologist from Munster, Ind., who
attended IU's event for the first time with his son, freshman Arun
Umapathy, Diwali is an event with deep sentimental value.
As a boy growing up in India, he remembers when his village would come
together to pray and worship, prepare sweets and join for an evening
meal following a day of fasting. Now, 23 years after moving to the
United States, the event still holds similar meaning.
"All of the effects combined kind of lift your spirit," he said. "It's
kind of a nostalgic feel and everybody's happy, that's the bottom line." |
