Diwali
Sun Nov 07, 2010 22:10 (UTC -5)Recently, one of my co-workers invited me to a Diwali show she was going to be dancing in. For background information, I shall now quote Wikipedia:
Deepavali (also spelled Devali in certain regions) or Diwali, popularly known as the festival of lights, is an important five-day festival in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, occurring between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes. Deepavali is an official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji.
Clearly, this is a big thing to many people. I had heard of it, and I was pretty sure there was an episode of The Office about it, but I really didn’t know anything about it. My co-worker, who is Indian, said they celebrate it like we celebrate Christmas here: with lights and gift-giving.
She had also invited one of our other co-workers and our boss to the show, but they couldn’t make it. So I was the only one to whom she gave a ticket stamped “VIP” at work on Friday. That was pretty cool since I had never been a VIP anywhere before.
The show was held at the performing arts center on campus last night. I got to sit in one of the front rows since I was a VIP and all. The show was a huge thing. It was about three hours long and had about 150 people in it. That sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s not. There are lots of Indian students at UF, although there were a few non-Indians, and possibly non-students, in the show. Most of the audience was Indian as well.
The show, which opened with the Indian and American national anthems, consisted mainly of musical numbers and dance routines, each with varying mixes of traditional and contemporary Indian-ness, performed by different groups of students. My co-worker appeared early on and did a great job on her dance routine. The theme of the night was Bollywood, and a series of skits interspersed throughout the program followed a couple of time-traveling Gators as they revisited Bollywood classics through the ages. Although these and other cultural references were lost on me, I could appreciate it all.
The show was so long that there was an intermission. (Well, that made it seem really long since even epic-length movies tend not to have intermissions anymore. I wonder why, anyway. After all, movies have been getting longer and our attention spans have been getting shorter, but… no more intermissions?) A local rapper opened the second half of the program with a couple of raps wishing everyone a happy Diwali. The final act of the show consisted of a dance troupe that you could tell spent a lot of time practicing just this very sort of thing. They were awesome.
I was grateful to my co-worker, who came out from backstage to talk to me during the intermission and after the show, for inviting me. Not only did I learn a thing or two about Indian culture, but I also had a good time. Awww.
From the BBC: How Britain Said Farewell to Its Empire.
2 comments
#1 by Joshua McGee: Mon Nov 08, 2010 04:45 (UTC -5)
My former manage was born in India. He visited home during the holiday, and had some gorgeous pictures to share with us. It transformed his fairly ho-hum-looking hometown into something glorious.
#2 by Jessica: Sat Nov 13, 2010 00:10 (UTC -5)
It’s so nice to hear that campuses are making an effort to celebrate traditions like Diwali. Not only is it a great opportunity to learn about another culture, but for students who actually come from that culture, it’s a way to ease the homesickness that may come from being overseas and missing out on traditions. I’ve heard about Diwali celebrations on a couple of other campuses that received equally positive reviews.