Namaskar's well-attended Diwali event was a fantastic combination of fun and cultural enrichment. On Friday evening, Namaskar, the Brandeis student association for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, invited the Brandeis community to celebrate Diwali in Ridgewood Commons. The event started off as small but throughout the evening students filed in until Ridgewood Commons was packed.
Hindus, Jains and Sikhs all celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights. These religions are mostly found in India, which explains the Indian food and Indian-themed activities at the event. Diwali is a five-day holiday celebrating, as Praneetha Vissapragada '13, a coleader of Namaskar explained, the "victory of good over evil," although it has slightly different meanings for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs and is celebrated in different ways all over India. Diwali is typically celebrated by lighting candles and fireworks, symbolizing the victory of good (light) over evil (darkness). Sharada Sanduga '14, the other coleader of Namaskar explains, fire-works were off-limits at this event due to Waltham regulations, but, "We did, however, light candles," she says.
Lights and red and gold cloth decorated Ridgewood's stairwells, and a beautiful shrine sat in the corner of Ridgewood commons, surrounded by candles and pictures of the Hindu gods. Hosts and guests alike looked beautiful, dressed in elaborately embellished saris of every color and design.
Yes, the Diwali festival had delicious free food, but it had so much more to offer. At the beginning of the event, members of Namaskar explained the meaning of Diwali and the leaders of the group performed a puja, the holding of a tray with offerings and candles before the shrine. The members of Namaskar were intensely focused, and the audience, recognizing the importance of the ceremony, sat in perfect silence.
There were different stations set up and the guests were free to roam around as they pleased, participating in various cultural activities. At the stations, students could get henna tattoos, make rice art (designs on paper made with colored rice), paint candleholders and eat masala paneer, a spicy tomato sauce with cheese cubes, by the spoonful.
I must admit that I am in no regard an artist, but I bravely ventured to the candleholder painting station first. My candleholder was not even close to being beautiful but neither as it turned out, was anyone else's. The watercolors barely showed up on the clay holders but everyone went on painting with enthusiasm nevertheless-insistent on having a painted candleholder for the following candle-lighting ceremony.
About ten minutes into the event, as the room filled with the sweet and spicy scents of Indian food, a long line started forming for dinner. To my, and everybody else's utter delight, the food was delicious. Indian food is hard to find around campus and it was evident that many students were hungry for Indian cuisine.
For dinner, there was rice; naan, a type of flat bread similar to pita; masala paneer; daal, a lentil dish with mango juice, in place of the traditional Indian mango and yogurt smoothie, mango lassi. But the mango juice did the job-it cooled the mouth from all the spices. For dessert, we ate gulab jamun, a traditional Indian dessert that resembles donut holes, although the sweet, oily, mushy balls, fried in rose water tasted much better than donuts.
After dessert, I ventured to the rice-art table, hoping that I could redeem myself after the failure of the candleholder. At the rice making station sat plates of rice, dyed in red, yellow, pink and purple. The object of the game was to decorate the construction paper with glue designs and then pour rice on top. After covering your designs in rice, you shake off the excess rice and beautiful rice-covered designs are revealed.
I copied the designs of my henna tattoo onto the plate with glue and sprinkled rice on top. To my delight, my rice-art was passable.
The event ended on a spiritual note. At nine o'clock we went outside, lit the candles in our hand-painted candleholders and put them in a circle. Sanduga told the crowd that Diwali is like an Indian Hannukkah; it is about coming together to celebrate the miracle of light.
We all stood outside in the cold, looking at the circle of lights and at each other, enjoying each other's presence for a few minutes before we left-going our separate ways with Indian food-filled stomachs, henna tattoos and the spirit of togetherness in our hearts.