All eyes were on center stage as the lights dimmed and women began to move their bodies to lyrics accompanied by techno-like beats. Some in the audience clapped and stomped their feet to the beat, while others sang along. This was not the scene at the Centroplex this weekend.
This was the scene in the Union Royal Cotillion Ballroom Sunday as the Indian Student Association hosted Diwali Utsav, the most widely celebrated festival in India.
Diwali Utsav, or the festival of lights, is celebrated by Indians everywhere during the Hindu month Ashwin, 20 days after Dussera, the festival of joy.
“Diwali celebrates the homecoming of Rama, a Hindu god, after his victory over evil,” said Anil Pahwa, a New Orleans resident.
Legends say Lord Rama’s wife, Sita, was abducted by the king of Lanka, Ravana. After defeating Ravana and rescuing his wife, Rama returned home 20 days later to a celebration of his victory — Diwali Utsav.
Diwali Utsav also marks the beginning of the Hindu new year. Usually the performances would be followed by bursting firecrackers. However, the state fire marshall did not grant ISA permission to do so.
Nial Patel, ISA vice president, and Shriya Bhushan, ISA public relations officer, were the masters of ceremonies. They introduced each act while interjecting their brand of humor.
Young women in colorful garb began the show dancing to traditional music while holding lit candles in each hand. The women wore jangles on their ankles that rang with the music as they danced.
However, not all of the dances were traditional.
Ruchi Kumar, a computer science freshman, and Tanya Rawal, a physics freshman, dazzled the crowd with a mixture of traditional and modern steps to high tempo Punjabi beats, encouraging whistles and applause from the male spectators.
The crowd also heaped applause on grade-school aged girls who danced with as much energy as their older counterparts.
A comedy act depicted the difference between a beggar in India and a beggar in America. The beggar in India pretended to be blind to get what he wanted. The beggar in America had a swipe machine, accepting donations via Visa, Mastercard and American Express.
Navneet Mandhani, an electrical engineering graduate student, performed various comedic acts with other students.
Those who could understand Hindi roared with laughter, while others had to ask their neighbor what he said.
Several Americans and other internationals attended the event as well.
Lord of the Dings, a band consisting of an acoustic guitar, an electrical guitar, traditional drums and an Indian drum set called a tabla, played what it referred to as “Fusion music.”
The event came to an abrupt end when the sound system, which plagued the entire event with “technical difficulties,” shut down in the middle of a performance.
The performance eventually was able to continue, but not before most of the audience had headed for the parking lot.
“We put a lot of work into it,” Bhushan said. “The volunteers worked tirelessly. It could have been better if the Union had a better sound system.”