Golden light flickered across the Lawn Tuesday as students gathered for the Hindu Students Community’s Lawn of Diwali Lights event. With food, music and warm conversation filling the crisp evening air, the event invited students of all backgrounds to take part in the celebration of Diwali, the annual Hindu “festival of lights” celebrating the triumph of light over darkness.
While HSC partners annually with the Indian Student Association and University Programs Council to put on Night of Diwali — a long-standing celebration that consists of dances, dinner and various Diwali activities — this year marks the first time HSC has hosted a separate Lawn celebration. The primary Night of Diwali event will take place Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Newcomb Ballroom.
According to Madhuri Sosale, fourth-year Engineering student and HSC Events Director, the new event aimed to retain special elements of Diwali that most students would normally only get if they were at home with their families.
“Being outdoors gives you the opportunity to light sparklers [and do things] you can’t do in the Newcomb Ballroom,” Sosale said. “In a lot of our families, [Diwali] is a time where you visit people’s houses… and while that’s not feasible for people in apartments, [having the event] on the Lawn … gives us the opportunity to almost mimic that.”
For fourth-year College student and HSC Co-President Misha Padigala, the event also served as an opportunity to share her culture with others while building more meaningful connections with students on the Lawn who share it.
“We wanted to make this inclusive for everyone, [even if] they are not South Asian or Hindu, [they] can come enjoy some food [and] learn about Diwali,” Padigala said. “I haven’t really had the opportunity to visit these people’s rooms, so it was nice just getting to know them [as well].”
The evening began with all the participants gathered outside Lawn Room 15 for a Puja and Aarti, two integral rituals that worship Hindu deities. “Puja” refers to the broader act of honoring a deity through offerings such as food, flowers and water, while “Aarti” — often performed at the end of a Puja — centers around a “diya,” or an oil lamp that is waved in a circular motion before the deity as a token of appreciation.
Groups of attendees cycled in and out of the room, taking turns to join in the ritual and share in the glow of the small diya. For Sosale, these rituals allow for moments of re-grounding amidst a busy and demanding college life.
“On Grounds right now, [it] is a really terrible time for a lot of people. It’s midterm season, [and] Thanksgiving feels so far away,” Sosale said. “[Diwali reminds us] that there is always light in your life.”
As the Puja concluded, attendees fanned out across eight Lawn rooms, each transformed into a small hub of cultural celebration. Some rooms offered savory Indian snacks like samosas and khatta meetha. Others featured activities included saree draping — the art of wrapping a long, flowing cloth into a skirt worn by many South Asian women — and henna application, a temporary body art made from dried powdered leaves that leave a reddish-brown stain on the skin.
For fourth-year Engineering student Ishan Bhikha, who opened his Lawn room for the event, the night was an opportunity to show Indian culture in one of the University’s most symbolic spaces.
“There are so many [South Asian Lawnies] this year … and we thought it would be really cool if [we] could have a little snippet of Diwali culture in every room.” Bhikha said. “I just wanted to be part of that and make a contribution and impact on our community here.”
Bhikha’s room offered a popular Indian dessert, gulab jamun — deep-fried dough balls that are soaked in rose-syrup — alongside lively desi music, which quickly filled the room with joy and laughter.
“[Diwali] is about being together with family and friends, and celebrating the new year and enjoying,” Bhikha said. “I think it’s nice that people get to experience that.”
As the night wound down, students lit sparklers and chatted and laughed outside. For Sosale, the event’s setting at the center of Grounds captured elements of Diwali that she feels are at the heart of the celebration.
The night not only celebrated Diwali, but also illuminated the power of curiosity, community and shared joy to connect people across cultures.
“I just met someone in passing who said that they spent a few years in India in the same small town my dad’s [from],” Sosale said. “They’re not ethnically from South Asia … [and] It was really nice to be like, ‘Wow, you’re not born or raised into [this culture], but it’s something you're passionate about.’”
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