On November 22nd, many Jefferson students gathered together to celebrate the cultural festival of Diwali here at Jefferson. Students celebrate many diverse holidays known for cherishing family and friends from Chinese New Year to Eid. Jefferson students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion, gather together to celebrate these cultural holidays. Diwali is no exception. TJ Namaste, a south asian culture club at Jefferson, hosted the annual Diwali Celebration.
“We’ve seen this tradition almost all of our years at Jefferson. We are both so excited to put our own spin on the event this year,” Eshwar Moorthy, co-president of TJ Namaste and organizer of this year’s Diwali celebration, said. “They’ve [TJ Namaste Club] always had an event for Diwali with a lot of food and Jefferson students being able to show off their dancing or singing skills.”
This year, both presidents of TJ Namaste planned to add their own spin to the traditional Diwali celebration known to Jefferson in the past.
“I think the most different part about this celebration in Jefferson this year is that it’s more run by the students themselves,” Dilnaaz Talwar, co-president of TJ Namaste alongside Moorthy, said. “We are also planning to have a [Henna] station which is new to our celebration and will hopefully be enjoyed by many people attending the event.”
However, the officers encountered plenty of challenges planning the event this year due to external factors.
“We have clubs running this event this year since PTSA cut costs,” Moorthy said. “One of the main challenges is probably organizing the food, usually the [PTSA] get those stuff pre-organised. But since this was led by us for the first year, we weren’t really familiar with the process.”
The event also included bright performances featuring all forms of live art. One performer, Moubon Kurukumbi, found the event to be the perfect bonding opportunity for her sister who are both trained kathak dancers. Kathak is a form of Indian classical dance known for utilizing hand movements and extensive footwork.
“We haven’t done a duet together since we were ten so, yes this was really a bonding experience for us,” Kurukumbi said.
Another performer was Taarun Ganesh, a vocalist, who enjoyed singing traditional tunes at the event.
“My [experience performing] is definitely a high nine or ten,” Ganesh said. “I performed a lot in the past and it’s been a lot of fun so far”