University of Kentucky’s Indian Student Association celebrated Diwali with its first major event since starting back up this school year after a gap year in 2023.
On Nov. 9, in the Gatton Student Center Grand Ballroom, UK’s Indian Student Association (ISA) hosted an event for the holiday of Diwali. The event included music, dance showcases, a buffet and a dance for the 200 attendees to partake in.
Diwali is known as the festival of lights and is an annual Hindu festival that represents the victory of light over darkness. It began on Oct. 31 this year and ended on Nov. 3. This holiday is followed by the Hindu New Year which is traditionally celebrated in Gujarat, India.
The guests were greeted by appetizers donated by the Hyderabad House, an Indian restaurant located in Lexington, as well as a dinner buffet sponsored by the Richmond Temple.
The festivities of the event began with two songs sung by two children, a solo dance number, a group dance performance by the Kentucky Karana and a dance displayed by the ISA board.
“I just like bringing all the energy, bringing positive energy to the crowd,” Shruti Patel, a freshman psychology major and member of the dance group Kentucky Karana said.
The showcase ended with the singing of a song called Sawan Aaya Hai sung by Kuhan Rajendran, a 24-year-old engineer for Tiffany and Company.
“First few years when I started doing it, it’s very nervous and then I think eventually experience gets stage fright out of the image most times,” Rajendran said. “I’d say, you know there are times when I’m nervous when I’m singing like a really challenging song, but practice I think kind of reduces that effect.”
To end the night, there was Garaba, which originated in Gujarat, India, a group dance for all who attended that is meant to signify victory.
“Diwali is a perfect example of how our diverse backgrounds can come together to create a richer, more dynamic university environment,” student body president Maddie Duff said.
The event showed how the UK community celebrates the diversity and different cultures that can be seen on campus, according to the speech Duff recited at the beginning of the night.
“I think it’s very important to celebrate your culture and do not be afraid to do so,” Rajendran said. “I think a lot of American Indians get into the notion where …most of them are born here and they’re shy or afraid to show people their actual identity, and I think the best way to get away from that is to embrace your culture.”
To complete this goal, the ISA board and committee made an effort to include as many different languages from India and the types of music used throughout the night.
“Our committee just does a really good job of making sure that all regions of India are represented in the music that we put on during our Diwali performance,” President of the ISA Kavya Vasudevan, a senior neuroscience major and biology minor said. “It’s just supposed to give you a sense of community and place where you can just have fun and meet like-minded people.”
The community that came to celebrate Diwali was not limited to UK students. Families of students, friends, UK staff and alumni of the association were also in attendance.
“I feel like there’s just a lot people from here that aren’t from Lexington, so I think it’s cool that they’re bringing a community together that’s not just a part of Lexington, but a part of UK and everywhere in Kentucky,” Emma Smith, a senior human health sciences major said.
Attendees wore traditional Indian clothing varying in bright colors and styles. Red and yellow decorations and lights filled the ballroom, and a large arch showed the story of Diwali, which was requested by the ISA and sponsored by Sky Contracting LLC.
There was a decorative arch where the inside told the story of Diwali, “So that people can walk through it and can read the story of Diwali, so they can understand the significance of the event that we’re putting on,” Vasudevan said.
