Diwali Nite '13

An international student organization celebrated Diwali Saturday night.

The India Student Association hosted their annual Diwali Nite at the University of Oklahoma’s Reynolds Performing Arts Center, and later celebrated with food.

“Diwali is a festival of lights,” President of the India Student Association Dhanya Dharma Rajan said. “We use fireworks to celebrate the festival and we use something call diya, which is a lamp.”

            Four hundred people rushed through the doors of the Reynolds Performing Arts Center to see the festival of lights live on stage.

There were nine performances that included acting, dancing, and singing. Awards, prizes, and scholarships were given away, also.

“I was like so excited because this was my first night dancing in Diwali Nite,” performer Amber Hubbard said.

All of the performers wore clothing, danced, and sang songs that are native to different parts of India.

“It’s my personal experience and I enjoyed it very much,” audience member Sadia Afrin said.

After the show, members of ISA, performers, and audience members went the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center to eat and celebrate.

Gopuram Taste of India Catering Services provided different types of North India food.

 “It’s one of the best restaurants in Oklahoma City, Gopuram,” Vice President of ISA Subramaniyam Iyer said. “So far we always go to them, we know that they can do a good job.”

ISA gave away two scholarships during Diwali Nite to international student members of their organization who are actively engaged with ISA and keeping their grades up.

“We wanted to help and support students who came to the school and did not get assistantship or any sort of financial assistantship or funding from the school,” Rajan said.

 Dr. Rebecca Cruise, from the Department of International Area Studies, was the guest of honor. ISA wanted to honor her for all the things that she’s done for the university.

The audience was very engaged, cheering loudly as they watched each of the performances. There were trivia questions asked to audience members between each performance. Each question was related to facts about India. The winner would receive a prize.

            Towards the end of the show, there were two raffle drawings.  Audience members had a number on the back of their ticket. Two numbers were called, and the winners won a night at the Sooner Legend Hotel.

Ten thousand dollars went into funding Diwali Nite. The University of Oklahoma offered $4,000 as primary funding and the other $6,000 came from different companies and organizations, according to Rajan.

“Since three months we’ve been working on the sponsorship approaching companies, and we’ve been working on the dances since one month,” Rajan said.

            ISA promotes Indian culture and traditions throughout the University of Oklahoma. The ISA accomplishes this through activities and cultural events, according to the ISA website.