The JHU Hindu Students Council celebrated Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, Saturday night at their annual Diwali Dhamaka, which was held at the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation center. The holiday celebrates the triumph of good over evil. The typical Diwali celebration includes lighting lamps to celebrate this triumph and setting off firecrackers to drive away evil spirits.
The Hindu Students Council pulled out all the stops when decorating the Rec Center for the event, which was sponsored by the Office of the Dean, President Ron Daniels and the Interfaith Center: attendees were greeted with rows of lit tea lamps, giving a real sense of it being a Festival of Lights.
“I’m pretty surprised it’s being celebrated in such a grand fashion,” freshman Rohan Agarwal said.“The whole Rec Center is decorated. It really helps you feel the occasion, feel the celebration.”
Upon entering the building, guests were immersed by popular Indian music and the smells f enticing food. The vegetarian menu, catered by Akbar Restaurant, consisted of chickpeas, potato filled samosas, pakora (spicy vegetable fritters), basmati rice and two fiery flavors of chutney. Gulab jamun, balls of flour fried in sugary syrup, were served as dessert to relieve the heat of the main entrees.
After an hour spent eating and mingling, participants lit an aarti plate. The festival began with a prayer to Lord Ganesha, because he clears obstacles. “Aarti is a religious ceremony of sorts which people perform every day or specifically on auspicious occasions. When you do aarti, you pray to different gods such as Ganesha for different reasons, for example, to make your endeavors successful or bring prosperity and happiness to your household,” freshman Chinar Berry said.
The night culminated with performances from various dance and a cappella Indian student groups. Shakti, a classical Indian dance team, was one of the most notable performances of the night — a truly moving tribute to Lord Ganesha. They wore bell anklets, which added to the rhythm of the music whenever they moved. Their choreography was stunning, and the coordination between dancers was beautiful.
The fusion a cappella group Kranti followed. The group brought a modern twist to the evening’s performances by mixing Western pop with songs from Indian films. The two songs they chose to mix, “Munbe Va,” by A.R. Rahman, from the Bollywood movie Tamil, and “Take Care,” by Drake and Rihanna, did not blend well, but their lead soloist’s vocals redeemed the performance.
Hareepa, Hopkins’s only bhangra team, managed to sustain the high level of energy needed throughout their entire performance. The group successfully incorporated Western beats while staying true to bhangra’s Punjabi roots. Hareepa’s costumes were beautiful: male dancers donned portly blue headdresses, while female members shimmered in blue pants that resembled mermaid tails.
The event culminated with four exciting dances that each class choreographed to show off their talents and class unity.
“It’s been like tradition. I’ve been dancing ever since I was a little child. It feels nice to carry on this tradition at Hopkins,” freshman Namrata Batra, who participated in the freshman dance, said.
The class dances gave senior Alexa Oxer the opportunity to participate in Diwali for the first time.
“Practicing and participating in Diwali has been one of my favorite experiences this year,” she said. “I really got into Bollywood music and movies this summer, so having the chance to learn fun dances with new friends was just awesome.”
The energy in each of the class dances was contagious; it got the audience furiously applauding and singing along to popular Indian songs.
Because Diwali took place during Family Weekend, families of students joined in on this celebration. It provided the rare opportunity to witness a cross-cultural, cross- generational gathering. People who attended the festival were able to see the rare sight of little girls donning brightly colored saris chasing each other around the Rec Center and Indian adults showcasing their heritage in traditional garb side by side.
Though fuzzy speakers were strained under the pressure of loud and robust music, the performances shined despite the poor sound system. Though the audience had to wait a fair amount of time in between each performance group, the longest pause, which introduced all the members of the student council, was distracting to placetowards the end of the evening. By then, the event had already lasted a considerable amount of time, and the audience was distracted by their introductions.
On the whole, the event was a roaring success. The student council and performance groups effectively stayed true to the spirit of Diwali while incorporating just the right amount of Western influence to appeal to those unfamiliar with the holiday. It was refreshing to see students one would normally only see in classes or walking around campus shed the anxieties of everyday life, embody their Indian heritage, and share it with the Hopkins community.
