By LESLIE ROSALES/Staff Writer

On October 21, Friday, from 5-8, the UC ballroom transformed into a beautifully decorated dreamland with lights.

The first highlight of the night involved showcasing a Diwali explanation video in which Various students were asked what they thought Diwali was and later got the opinions of Indian heritage individuals and what it meant to them.

Diwali—Festival of Lights (nationalgeographic.com)

The Festival of Lights is meant to be a joyous moment in which the light represents inner strength and happiness while being together with family and friends.

Traditions involve decorating the front of the house and Mehndi designs made with sand to welcome the goddess of love through Rangoli. This is also a time to receive blessings from older and wiser individuals.

The beauty of this art is that it is not permanent and doesn’t necessarily have any rules; instead, it is used to express joyful times. They did a version of Rangoli with fake flowers and leaves at the UC ballroom entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agenda

• Watched Diwali Video.
• Make Rangoli which is a form of art made from sand.
• Secondly, we watched various performance dancers.
• After that, we listened to a mash-up song of popular Indian music that followed the themes of friendship expectations and going to college, sung by Shriyan Bhattaraier. 
  • People joined and sang along while rhyming clipping, and there were even some English lyrics for everyone to sing along to.
• After that, we had a contest in which they rated the rangolis and gave out prices. 
• After that, we enjoyed more live performances and acoustic performances. 
• They ended the performances with all the organizers inviting individuals to dance along with them. 
• The most anticipated event of the night involved eating traditional cuisine.

The atmosphere seemed dreamy, with the sparkle of lights highlighting the dancers and singers of the night. It was similar to a late-night party where you start taking and can’t stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment involved high-energy dancers that you can’t help but smile and showcased unique, different dances.

Food 

Food was the most anticipated item of the night, and that is no Suprise given how flavorful and delicious everything was.

The menu consisted of Samosa, Gulab Jamun, Veg Biryani, Chicken Biryani (Halal), Veg Samosas, and Mango Lassi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People’s opinion

We spoke to a few people, such as Stacey Cheeramkmzhy, a senior who attended last year’s Diwali. Her favorite part of the event was able to share the culture while having fun.

We also spoke to Shriyan Bhattarai, the night singer, and his opinions. His favorite part of the night was ” getting to perform and encourage everyone to come with love and joy to allow all the goodness in you to flow out.” He also highly recommended coming to Diwali.

Lastly, we spoke to Cayden Chaffin, who heard of this event from the honors program. He liked the music, decor, and vibe of the party.

Event coordinators