The South Asian Student Alliance (SASA) and the Asian Pacific American Club (APAC) collaborated on Thursday, Nov. 7 in room 211 during X-block to host a celebration for Diwali to educate others, showcase cultural pride and uplift one another.
Diwali is a holiday celebrated by people of many faiths centered on the idea of light over darkness and good over evil. This festival of light spans five to six days, and this year it was celebrated from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. During the X-block festivities, students participated in a variety of activities such as mehndi, a temporary skin decoration, and rangoli, an art form made using colored powders.
APAC co-president and senior Melanie Ho participated in the festivities by doing mehndi on others. Ho said that both clubs contributed to plan the celebration.
“Spreading the holiday and cultural awareness is beneficial to everyone,” Ho said. “In the past we’ve collaborated with SASA for Diwali to bring our communities together and just [to] celebrate each other.”
According to SASA co-president and senior Mimi Aspi, APAC has routinely helped run the event.
“It’s just nice to have a lot of people in one room together,” Aspi said. “The best part is bringing people together because it’s a celebration of light and light signifies hope [and] community.”
SASA vice president and junior Addy Jalan said she had a personal connection to Diwali.
“Diwali is, at least for my family, the biggest holiday that we celebrate all year,” Jalan said. “We just want to raise awareness because not so many people know about Indian holidays.”
Ho said the celebration allowed for new conversations and connections.
“Because SASA and APAC are separate clubs, we usually don’t interact that much, but when we celebrate each other, it’s bringing the Asian community closer together and promoting intersectionality.”
Ho said the collaboration between SASA and APAC has made her more aware of South Asian cultures and curious to explore more. According to Ho, both clubs will collaborate again this school year to celebrate Holi.
“I’m excited to celebrate that,” Ho said.“People need to celebrate each other and their cultures, because differences are important to making a strong community overall.”
