Students, parents and children filled the Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center to mingle and dine, as the Hopkins Hindu Student Council presented the "Festival of Lights" last Saturday. Festivities included the "Class Clash" dance competition and Aarti, a traditional prayer.
The "Festival of Lights", known as Diwali Dhamaka, is a festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil and the uplifting of the spirit over darkness.
This message resonates with Hopkins students.
"For me, Diwali represents a massive social gathering," sophomore Vissagan Gopalakrishan said.
Members of the Hindu Student Council wore traditional Indian attire and Akbar, a local Baltimore restaurant, provided the catering.
"We started planning for the event in May," senior Paras Bhatt, President of the Hindu Student Council and main organizer for the event, said.
"We had to coordinate with the Recreational Center, our club advisor – there was just a lot of planning that went into it."
About 1500 people came in and out of the festival throughout the night. The event is purposely held on Parent's Weekend every year to increase crowd turn-out and expose parents and students to Hindu culture.
"It's the largest entirely student-run event on campus." Bhatt said.
Diwali is funded through a grant from JHU Student Life as well as through its own group monetary resources. Most of the funds were apportioned to pay for the catering.
Candles were arranged on the stairs leading up to the entrance of the Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center in rows. Inside, Christmas lights lined the railings of the track and intersected across to the other side to form a Christmas light ceiling. Also there was a "Hall of Gods" displayed important Hindu Gods and Goddesses as well as their cultural and religious significance.
The last half of the night was dedicated to performances by Hopkins Indian arts groups. Featured groups included Kranti, Shakti, JOSH and Masti. The performances culminated in a "Class Clash" as freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior groups each performed their respective medley of dances.
"Everyone was cheering each other on and we put a lot of effort into it," Gogalakashan said. "Shaffer for the last two weeks has been full of kids rehearsing the dances."
"Everyone was looking forward to the Class Clash dance the most," Bhatt said. "It's a fun competition and a good conclusion to the formal dances. We're going out with a bang."
The dancing during the Class Clash was more of a loose interpretation of classical Indian dancing, with hints of modern dance styles. The audience responded enthusiastically to these dances, and the performers clearly enjoyed themselves. The crowd even clapped along to the music at points, avidly watching the performers and cheering for their friends.
"I came because I have a lot of friends that are performing," said Sophomore Clinton Ogega. "I also really wanted to cheer on the Sophomore Class during their dance."
Other events included Aarti, a structured prayer led at the end or start of any religious festival. Parents and students alike stepped forward to read passages of the Sanskrit prayer.
"Aarti is meant to draw the community closer together because everyone's interacting." Gopalakashan said. The Interfaith Center holds a similar prayer every Sunday.
All in all, Diwali attendees agreed that the festival was tremendous fun and a huge success.
"The food and the dancing were the best," said sophomore Azam Qureshi.
Many of the attendees did not celebrate Diwali personally but were able to taste traditional Indian food and watch Indian classical dancing.
"We use Diwali as an opportunity to expose people to Indian culture." Bhatt said. "We want people to realize that the culture has so many different aspects to it. It is very diverse, with many different styles of dance and languages."
