With more than 850 students from around the world, Choate encourages the sharing of cultural celebrations and traditions with the school community. On Sunday, November 8, the Choate South Asian Association (CSAA) hosted an event to celebrate Diwali, the Indian festival of lights.
Traditionally celebrated with diya lamps, fireworks, gifts, and feasts, Diwali is typically celebrated at Choate with an in-person Indian dinner and Indian dance performances in the library. However, safety measures due to the ongoing pandemic took this year’s celebration to Zoom.
This year, CSAA members created virtual presentations to share the holiday’s festivities with the Choate community. According to CSAA President Shivani Sharma ’22, the presentations involved answering questions such as “What is Diwali? Why is it celebrated? Who are the gods that play a part in it?,” which initiated important conversations.
Club members also presented on special traditions, food, and symbols related to the event. The celebration included an arts and crafts component, in which participants made paper flowers.
The performances of past celebrations were preserved as well: one of the seniors, Amitra Hoq ’21, performed a traditional Hindustani vocal performance. In addition, Sharma taught a Bollywood dance routine to participants through Zoom.
Due to the new virtual nature of the event, the planning process involved some unprecedented challenges. Sharma noted that the greatest difficulty was encouraging active participation. Her primary goal was to promote a livelier celebration of the important Indian holiday by encouraging people to join the Zoom call and involve all club members in discussion. Another challenge was spreading the word about the Zoom event to more people. Sharma said, “I wasn’t sure how to get people to know about the event virtually.”
Despite these challenges, Sharma appreciated the opportunity to host the event. “By finding clubs like CSAA, the Muslim Student Association, the Hispanic-Latinx Forum, and clubs like these, students are connected to people of the same culture,” she said. “By celebrating these festivals with classmates, even the whole school can enjoy and learn more about that culture and about the world.”
CSAA will host a major event in the spring for Holi, the Indian festival of color.
