Texas State celebrates Indian festival of lights
By: Sarah Pollok
The Indian Student
Association held a Diwali celebration in the Alkek Teaching Theater on Nov. 9 as part of International Education Week at Texas State.
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| Kanika Verma, president of the Indian Student Association, performs a traditional Indian dance at the Diwali Festival, Nov. 9. |
Dr.
Moonis Ali, faculty adviser for the ISA, welcomed guests to Diwali,
which celebrates the triumph of good over evil as a festival of lights. He also
described Diwali with five words: prosperity, wealth, health, happiness and
love. Those five words combine to determine how good someone’s life is, Dr. Ali
said.
“The purpose of Diwali is to make people happy in every
way possible,” said Dr. Ali.
With the theater filled to capacity, dancers and
performers entertained the crowd throughout the evening at the free event. As part of ISA’s goal
for cultural diversity, performers from other cultures and organizations were
welcomed to participate in Diwali. Some groups combined their culture and
Indian influences in their dances. Ritmo Latino Dance Company performed a samba,
traditionally a Brazilian dance, to Indian music.
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| Members of the Ritmo Latina Dance Group at Texas State perform at the Diwali Festival. |
“It’s awesome that we can come together and celebrate as
one,” said Floritzel Moreno, junior fashion merchandising major. “As an officer
in Ritmo Latino Dance Company, we try to go out there and perform at different
kinds of events. We want to express that we’re all about cultural diversity.”
Kanika Verma, president of ISA, talked about the
importance of cultural diversity on college campuses as more universities
globalize, including Texas State.
“If we think in terms of international students, who are
here thousands of miles away from their home, it is very important that here on
campus they feel close to home,” Verma said.
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| The Harambee Group performs their Hip Hop and Stepping routine at the Indian Student Association's Diwali Festival. |
ISA also took the chance to highlight the association’s accomplishments in the
past year, including a Boko award for last year’s Diwali celebration.
“It’s the biggest event we have,” said Sahil Malik,
freshman business major, who also performed several dances.
ISA served
traditional Indian food, including chana masala, a garbanzo bean curry, and
naan bread.
“It
felt like home,” said Yesha Raval, a performer in the festival.
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| A performer dances in the Diwali Festival. |
International Education Week, hosted by International Student Services and Programs, aims to prepare students for a global environment through various celebrations and presentations. The week officially runs from Nov. 11-15, but events are held throughout the month.
Check out the rest of the photos from this event at
barstow85's photostream and a video by Tyler Barstow produced about the evening:
