Spectators watched as the South Asian student performers delivered routines to choreographed songs such as “Bole Chudiyan” and “Dilliwali Girlfriend.” Garlands, lanterns, rangolis and information centers dotted the Main Quad on Oct. 23, in preparation for the annual Diwali Festival hosted by De Anza staff and students.
Diwali is a festival that originated in India but is now celebrated by millions worldwide, often between or during the months of October and November. It symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and is observed across Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist faiths.
Rachel Fletcher-Ferreira, 20, a biology major, said she enjoyed watching her friends perform.
“I have some friends actually who are in there,” Fletcher-Ferreira said. “It’s really fun to watch my friends be a part of it.”
The event had four major attractions, the food counter which served gulab jamuns and other Indian sweets, a henna artist, a diya (clay lantern) and rangoli (powder-based art) decoration stall and the key attraction: a dance square in front of the fountain, with seating provided for all guests.
Aroush Fatima, 17, a computer science major and the head student organizer and orator for the event, said, “Diwali is all about fun, food, ladoos, rasgullas and all the sweet food you can imagine.”
“Indian culture is all about dance; there are so many states in India and all of them have their own performance style,” Fatima said. “These dance styles with different clothes all look so good — we (the Indian Student Association) thought we should recreate it over here so far away from India and share this cultural moment everyone should know.”
Student volunteers stationed at the information desks educated the De Anza community about customs and traditions associated with Diwali. Students from various diverse cultural backgrounds volunteered for this event.
Wing Nadin Win, 16, a computer science major, appreciated the friendly atmosphere.
“This is very fun for me and I just wanted to try out new things,” Win said.
Students exiting from the library and cafeteria stood and watched the program celebrations.
Aum Radadia, 18, an electrical engineering major said, “As a person from Indian heritage, I feel pride in seeing that our culture is being represented in community colleges … this event really brought me back to India because I was actually born in India.”
Lakshmi Auroprem, one of the lead event organizers for the Diwali Festival spoke about the development of this event.
“The first year we did it was in 2019 and it was a smaller event only for the staff, and students at the Office of Equity,” Auroprem said.
The positive responses coming from students and staff encouraged everyone to continue to host the Diwali event at De Anza. Unfortunately, the pandemic forced the event to a halt, and its subsequent resumption in 2022.
“On a personal level, I feel like I wanted to share the joy of Diwali because Diwali in my memory is something that brings happiness and smiles on everyone’s faces … even in the most stressful situation. If it’s festival time, we all put that (stresses) aside and celebrate together,” Auroprem said.
On the subject of outreach, Auroprem said they’re always trying to improve their efforts; this year, the festival hosted a resource table for students.
“I think that added a lot of value to our event where people are not only having fun and enjoying the community, they’re also getting to know about the resources on campus,” Auroprem said.
The ISA performed various functions to make the event successful. They pitched fundraising ideas, involved and coordinated students for group performances and facilitated students and faculty for the event.
“The Indian Student Association was a great asset to the event coordination this year,” Auroprem said. “I heard one of the students tell me that this felt like home, and that is our ultimate goal.”
