Collegiate Times

Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, was brought to life last week on Tech's campus through a variety of colorful performances

The Indian Student Association rang in Diwali, the Festival of Lights, with a night of lively music and dancing.

Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil — in Hindu mythology, Lord Ram returned from exile after defeating the demon king Ravan. In more recent times, Diwali is celebrated as a harvest festival, occurring in either October or November of each year, marked by lighting candles, eating sweets and spending time with family.

Virginia Tech’s ISA chose to celebrate this holiday with a mixture of music and dance. Indian food and a bright display of fireworks.

Comedian Rajiv Satyal emceed for the night, opening the show and providing entertainment between student performances. Satyal’s jokes touched upon many themes familiar to Indian-Americans, such as miscommunication with parents and the difficulties of balancing being Indian and American at the same time.

Although some of his material was typical, addressing the issues of immigrant families in America and cultural mismatches, Satyal earned laughter from his audience by touching upon these issues with his own voice.

As Satyal wound down his initial material, he introduced the musical ensemble Dhobi Ghaat Blues. This student group made of up eight students played instruments and sang three classic songs from the previous decades. Their song choices reflected their audience — an infamous song from a 1972 Bollywood movie and another from 2006. The lead male’s vocals were the perfect choice for the genre and received loud cheers from the audience.

Following the Dhobi Ghaat Blues were the children from Balvihar. A small group of Blacksburg children performed the traditional dance, Bharata Natyam, and a larger group performed to a mix of old and new songs. The children of Balvihar also acted out a skit explaining the festival for those who didn’t know its significance.

The rest of the night consisted of a series of dances. First up was Dhingana, a group of animated performers demonstrating a folk dance from the state of Maharashtra.

Up next was another folk dance display by Tech’s Bhangra. This time hailing from the north, Bhangra dancers brought to light the extremely enthusiastic and upbeat dance and music from Punjab. Their colorful outfits, accompanying props and lively Bhangra songs resonated with the crowd.

Following Bhangra was Filmi Rog, a Bollywood dance group. Hindi movies and the corresponding music are integral parts of life in India, and any cultural show would be incomplete without a Filmi number. The dance included a quick costume change, reminiscent of a Hindi movie, and a mix of fusion dance moves.

Contrasting the modern moves of Filmi Rog was Indian Classical Fusion, a group of seven girls performing in the styles of Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi. Both dances are classical types from South India and require years of training and dedication to master. ICF performed a mix of the two styles in combination with modern attire and music to entertain the younger generation.

Rounding off the night was Dancilla, a recently formed dance group at Tech. Performing a variety of styles of Indian and western dance to a variety of music, Dancilla lit the stage, depicting the meaning of the holiday.

A fireworks display on the Drillfield followed the show along with an authentic Indian meal.

A version of this article appeared in the Nov 2 issue of the Collegiate Times.