Over 300 Seaver students gathered in Mullin Town Square on Nov. 8 for a Diwali celebration hosted by the Indian Student Association.
The annual ISA event, a celebration of the Hindu festival of lights, began around 6 p.m. A DJ blasted Bollywood music as the large multiethnic group of students arrived at the event. Lamp posts were wrapped with bright white string lights, which also hung over the draped tables.
“It’s a festival that symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and good over evil,” ISA co-President Anika Sawhney said, speaking to the crowd before the association’s executive board members performed a Bollywood dance routine. “This celebration transcends religious and cultural boundaries, allowing us to appreciate the universal values of peace, love and unity.”
A long line that wrapped around Mullin Town Square immediately formed for the hot buffet of catered Indian food. Guests enjoyed an array of flavorful butter chicken, garlic naan, chicken pakora, vegetable samosas and chana masala. ISA organizers also served mango lassi, hot chai and an assortment of Indian desserts.
Organizers spent over $3,000 on the food alone, according to junior Zayed Aslam, who serves as the volunteer coordinator for ISA.
“My goal is to just keep making this event bigger and bigger every year,” Aslam said. “And it’s only possible with help of all the amazing board members and the staff at ICC and ICA.”
Aslam, a Pakistani Muslim, said he did not grow up celebrating Diwali. Since joining ISA his first year, he said he has appreciated the joy of togetherness celebrated by the holiday. He helped organize and market the event so that others, regardless of their cultural background, could also revel in the cultural tradition.
“I think it’s such a great way to intermix interfaith and just help people explore new culture and new tradition and new religion,” ISA co-President Zara Raza said.
At one of the tents, attendees could also receive traditional henna tattoos on their hands. Two women from Riverside, hired by ISA planners, designed the custom tattoos for guests. Although henna is traditionally adorned by women for weddings and other holidays, the tattoos were offered to anyone who wanted them.
Around 7:15 p.m., ISA e-board members wearing traditional Indian lehenga and kurta outfits performed a four-minute Bollywood dance routine. At the end of their performance, they opened up the dance floor to the crowd, who enthusiastically joined in. Guests danced to more Bollywood music, such as “Naatu Naatu” from the 2022 Oscar-winning Telugu-language film “RRR,” as well as American club hits like “Party Rock Anthem” and “FE!N.”
The celebration, which Aslam said took around three months of preparation, wrapped up a little before 8:30 p.m. Even with a shrunken crowd toward the end of the night, people unabashedly kept dancing together in Mullin Town Square. Every tray at the buffet was empty by the conclusion of the event.
“We celebrate good over evil at the end of the day,” Sawhney said. “That’s why Diwali is celebrated.”
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Contact Henry Adams via email: henry.adams@pepperdine.edu
