Orange flames flickered and the aroma of Indian spices filled the air in the Marvin Center Continental Ballroom Saturday night as GW students from all backgrounds sang and danced along to Bollywood beats and hip-hop fusion at the annual Diwali.
The Indian Student Association hosted its annual celebration of the Indian Festival of Lights in collaboration with the Caribbean Student Association. This year marked the first time the organizations worked together on the event and their collaboration was the latest effort to form connections between different student groups, said Student Association President Vishal Aswani.
“Look at what you saw tonight. You saw the partnership of the Caribbean Student Association and ISA,” Aswani, a senior, said. “I’ve already talked to ISA many times and they said over and over that this is just the start. It just goes back to how every organization wants to work together.”
The collaboration also helped promote the holiday’s spirit of togetherness, ISA President Komal Desai said.
“Diwali is a time to start new, start fresh, a time to rejoice,” Desai, a senior, said. “It’s celebrated all over the world and it was great to have the CSA come and perform in celebration. We wanted to promote the event, promote diversity and have people come out and enjoy the festival, the culture of India and just have a good time.”
The event started with a buffet of traditional Indian appetizers and moved to a show featuring several dance performances and a skit. The stage was filled with royal purples, bright oranges, maroons, reds and gold as students from GW Bhangra, GW Chamak and Baanchal, a Caribbean dance group, performed.
“The event went very well. We didn’t expect this many people at all,” said ISA Vice President Jiral Shah, a senior. “We ran out of chairs, we ran out of food, we ran out of space, we had people standing in the back, so I would consider that a success. This is my third time hosting the event and I think every year it gets better and better and better. I think we outdid ourselves this year.”
The full crowd cheered on their friends, and even those who could not understand the Indian lyrics danced in their seats and rooted for their friends.
“It was a really good show,” freshman Rhett Cross said. “I came out to support my girlfriend in one of the dances, but it’s just cool to see different cultures and the differences in modern music and food and things.”
Celebration of the school’s diversity was a main theme of the night.
“It was a lot of fun and really well organized,” freshman Neha Singh said. “It definitely helps diversity because the event was open to everyone so everyone gets a taste of what’s going on around campus and what different cultures are about.”
Aswani said events like this year’s Diwali helped students of different backgrounds understand one another.
He said, “Seeing events like this, seeing the type of crowd that was out there, really make Diwali – really makes all the holidays, no matter what ethnicity you are – something the University can celebrate.”
