On November 5, members of the Choate community gathered for their annual celebration of Diwali organized by the South Asian Student Association (SASA). The festival took place in the Andrew Mellon Library Reading Room, where both a dinner and a dance party were hosted.
The name Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word “deepavali,” meaning “rows of lighted lamps.” “Diwali is the Hindu festival of light and the victory of good over evil,” said Shivani Sharma ’22, the president of SASA and the organizer of the event. “It’s an important celebration due to the fact that it comes from the Ramayana. Basically, the end is when Lord Rama returns home to his kingdom to be crowned king after his 14-year exile in the forest, so his people put out oil lamps to welcome him back.” The five-day celebration marks an important date in the Hindu calendar, as it takes place in the last three days of the month of Ashwayuja and the first two days of the new month of Kartika.
The planning for this year’s event was an arduous process. “We first looked at decorations online, selected a restaurant, worked on advertisements, promo videos, and posters,” explained Sharma. With around 75 attendees, this year’s event was largely successful and lively, especially following last year’s virtual celebration. Another SASA club member Saijel Burkett ‘22 said, “The food was definitely a crowd favorite, because who doesn’t love Indian food. Also, this year, we decided to include dandiya, which is like a line dance, and it was a lot of fun to teach everyone.”
Sharma and Burkett shared their favorite part of the festival. “I loved celebrating with everyone because it completes a circle for Shivani and me. Freshman year was our last in-person celebration and we danced with a then-senior, Max Patel ’19. So, coming back our senior year and doing a revised version of our freshman dance was an important end for us,” said Burkett.
“A lot of hard work was put into this festival and I’m glad that was reflected,” said Sharma. “I’ve had many people come up to me saying how much they loved and enjoyed it. My hope is that this becomes an annual celebration, because it’s one of the most important Hindu festivals.”
