South Asian Student Association hosts first virtual Diwali celebration

As the most well-known South Asian festival, Diwali serves as a New Year celebration of the victory of light over darkness for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Newar Buddhists alike. Panther Archives

Widely known as the “Festival of Lights,” Diwali is the five-day Hindu festival that occurs annually between mid-October and mid-November. Although the holiday originated in India, many South Asian countries and their diaspora participate in the celebration, which involves the lighting of small clay lamps, called “diyas,” filled with oil. 

“It signifies good prospering over evil,” said Juhi Doshi, a freshman English major at Chapman University. “It's like our New Year, where we put the past behind and look forward and hope and pray for a prosperous year.”

For the past few years, the Cross-Cultural Center, Fish Interfaith Center, and the Shukla Family have hosted a Diwali celebration on Chapman’s campus to allow students and faculty the opportunity to celebrate together. Due to COVID-19, the celebration this year was conducted virtually with the help of the South Asian Student Association (SASA). 

In the remote format, SASA showed video clips of dancing performances, incorporated breakout rooms to allow attendees to engage, and held a Rangoli – patterns typically drawn using rice, flour, chalk and other natural materials – competition in a one-hour Zoom meeting Nov. 11. 

Jay Kumar, the inaugural director of Contemplative Practice and Wellbeing, joined the Zoom call from inside Fish Interfaith Center, where he conducted the most important part of the event: the lighting of the candle. Attendees waved their phone flashlights in the air as Kumar’s words hung in the virtual air, telling his audience to be the best versions of themselves and to let their inner light shine out.

“We had technical difficulties on Zoom, but the event was a great turnout,” said Riya Mody, junior psychology major and co-vice president of SASA. “We had to be really creative in ways to engage people, because usually the food is the attractive part of the event.”

Although the Chapman community wasn’t able to meet face-to-face to celebrate Diwali, many of SASA’s members were still able to celebrate at home and participate in traditions with their families. 

“We welcome Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity and wealth, into our home by saying prayers, lighting candles and decorating the outside of our home with Rangoli,” Mody said.

Doshi and Surina Patel, a freshman business administration major, found the Chapman Diwali celebration rewarding as first-year students, even on the virtual platform. Doshi told The Panther that the slideshows SASA shared were very educational, teaching her things about Diwali even she never knew. Patel enjoyed meeting and talking to new peers in breakout rooms and bonding over the event together.

“We still got to see performances,” Patel said. “It was cool to meet people who have the same beliefs, share the same culture, to learn all the different ways people celebrate Diwali and to know that other people also celebrate it.”