The loud beats of “Badtameez Dil” and “Desi Girl” blared through the shroud of gold streamers at the entrance of McLaren Hall on Nov. 1 as students celebrated the Indian Students Organization’s (ISO) annual Diwali gathering. The event has become a tradition for some; Vansh Gupta, a junior computer science major shared, “Me and my friends always come here, every year, and when we saw ISO’s post we thought why not. This is my third Diwali with ISO.”
Although the main lights were off, multicolored floor lights filled the room in constantly changing hues of green, blue and red. On the right side of the room, USF alumni DJ Rav E Sandhu took the stage and dancing students crowded in front of his set up. Most students’ wore traditional clothing, with girls clad in jewel-colored shalwar kameezs’ and lehengas, and men in kurtas and sherwanis. Shirel Abraham, one of the mingling students and a freshman neuroscience major said, “I have a whole box of [traditional clothing] at home that kind of just sits there, so it was nice to pull something out and wear it.”
Diwali is the Hindu “Festival of Lights,” and one of India’s most widely celebrated holidays. The dates for the festival change yearly in accordance with the lunar calendar . The festival also extends to the Indian diaspora, such as international students at USF, and even American Indians right here in the Bay Area. Anshika Bedi, a junior psychology major and ISO’s vice president, shared “[The celebration spotlights] good over evil and if you go back into history it’s talking about how everyone put lights outside of their houses, like little diyas [a traditional lamp], to celebrate victory over evil forces. Which is why it’s called [the festival] good or evil, it’s meant to ward off evil eyes and bring in the new year.”
Vidhi Desai, a junior psychology major, agreed, “I’m a transfer student and it’s my first semester […] I was just missing home and missed dressing up.” Desai spent the evening surrounded by a circle of friends in the center of the room, next to a red backdrop which glittered with fairy lights for students to take photos.
With over 1,300 international students enrolled at USF, celebrating cultural events and holidays such as Diwali give students a chance to feel at home. Bedi also shared that this is part of ISO’s mission, “My goal, every Diwali, is to go all out. Last year was something else, this year was the DJ. Just to make the people here feel special because not everyone can go home on Diwali […] International students that are here, and everyone who can’t go back home. So just bringing the community together […] I know I have family here but not everyone does, so I just want to make it special for them.”
The last bit of celebration from ISO was on the left of the hall, and at the very end was a long white table with Indian food items like gulab jamun and samosas for attendees tomunch on as they took in the celebration. On a smaller table was a splash of orange and yellow marigold flowers, meant to symbolize passion and creativity and are key items used in Diwali Pujas. These types of flowers indicate important occasions and new beginnings and appeared in all of ISO’s decorations for the event.
Sophomore nursing major Harini Krishnan said “I really enjoy finding a community, especially within the more desi population […] these events are a good way to meet new people and build our community.”
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