By Anusha Trivedi '23

Notre Dame’s South Asian Student Association (SASA) recently held a Diwali event celebrating their culture. Diwali is a holy day in Hinduism known as the festival of lights during which people light small lamps called “diyas.” This tradition is based on the Hindu myth of Lord Krishna defeating the demon Narakasura in battle and is meant to celebrate good winning over evil and light winning over darkness. 

During lunch, SASA provided South Asian food, played cultural music and led a diya decorating activity. The food they shared included mango lassia, yogurt based drink, jalebi, a traditional sweet and a baked snack called samosas. SASA’s dance team, Zamana, performed a dance number choreagraphed by Aayushi '23 in colorful South Asian attire. The Notre Dame community was invited to wear red, orange or yellow to help show their support. 

Shreya Dinesh ‘23, the president of SASA, stated that they had been planning for this event since the 2nd week of September. “We were so happy to see people so excited to try out all the food!” shared SASA president Shreya Dinesh'23 referring to how long and crowded the lines were as students rushed to try some of the cultural snacks. SASA also handed out small goodie bags filled with Diwali stickers and chocolate. Shreya commented that the treat bags were “a simple but effective way to get a huge portion of the student body involved.” At the end of the day, she was “really proud of the way the event came together!”