Oct. 31 was the observation of Diwali, the Festival of Light in Hindu tradition. UConn Late Night celebrated this religious holiday belatedly with their weekly programming in the Student Union in collaboration with the Hindu Student Association on Friday, Nov. 8.
At Union Street, there was a check-in station where students could have their event passes on UConntact scanned by a staff member to be entered in a raffle. The table also had Indian snacks and stickers themed around Indian culture for prizes. The scanning doubled as attendance for the Late Night programming.
Late Night at the Student Union typically has free popcorn with various seasonings every Friday night, but the Hindu Student Association additionally provided Frooti mango juice, Kurkure chips and ice cream with gulab jamun, an extremely sweet, rich, soft and flavorful confection popular in South Asian cultures.
When asked about the story of Diwali, the Hindu Student Association’s Ayush Patel, a third-semester mechanical engineering student, said “For Diwali, there’s two stories: the story in ‘The Ramayana,’ and the other story that is more common in northern parts of India where Lord Krishna killed a demon that enslaved one hundred or one thousand women and married them all so that they could be accepted in society.”
“Diwali is good versus evil,” Vaishnavi Josyula, a third-semester allied health sciences student, chimed in. According to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, “people leave lights on their doorsteps to help Rama and Sita [deities from ‘The Ramayana’] find their way. These lights are a symbol of Diwali and the celebration of light overcoming darkness, just like Rama defeated Ravana [the demon king].”
When talking about the Hindu Student Association, Patel said, “It’s an organization that helps Hindus feel welcomed on campus. It’s like a new home for Hindu students.” Josyula added, “It’s not just for Hindu students, it’s for everybody to share Hindu culture.”
As always with UConn Late Night, there was karaoke; a student humorously sang off-key to “Mamma Mia” by ABBA, a common pick for a karaoke song.
The Student Union Ballroom both crafts where people could decorate candles in jars with glue, stencils and colored powder and a backdrop that says “Happy Diwali” where a photographer took photos with a Polaroid camera.
Jesse Hawrylko, a seventh-semester art student, won a ceramic coaster set at bingo night, another mainstay at Late Night. Late Night staff members Georgia Mills, a seventh-semester English education student and Kateryna Pekar, a seventh-semester environmental engineering student said, “We love planning bingo and picking prizes. We love providing opportunities for students to unwind on a Friday night.”
For those who were overstimulated or just wanted a peaceful environment, there was a designated quiet room available with quiet activities.
Diwali is a time to celebrate the tenacity of the human spirit. The flames of the diyas and candles may eventually burn out and die, but while they were still burning, they brought warmth and light into the environment. Light brings hope to life. Light is valued and is a commonality in many religions and cultures. Light is indubitably important, and Diwali celebrates that.
As someone who grew up in a Hindu household, seeing the culture I am so familiar with celebrated genuinely warms my heart. I geeked out about Hindu lore with my friend who was eager to learn more about Diwali and Hindu culture. I was so surprised to see gulab jamun being served, as it’s a delicacy I didn’t have much of growing up because other Indian sweets were more common. I was also telling my father about this event and how excited I was to attend it. He was pleasantly surprised that UConn would have something like a Diwali celebration, especially for a primarily white institution.
To express culture is a beautiful thing, and to share it is even more beautiful. I am grateful that my culture was represented and celebrated, bringing familiarity to an environment that can feel alienating at times.