SASA dinner celebrates Diwali/Eid

Nate Kimball Staff Writer

It’s curving in on itself,” remarked Ria Brown ’09 as she observed the line for the South Asian Students Alliance (SASA) Diwali/Eid dinner on Friday, Nov. 11 in the Villard Room.

This year’s combined Diwali Eid dinner, hosted by SASA was an unforseen success. The dinner celebrated Diwali, which is a Hindu New Year holiday that is celebrated over many days and honors the Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Traditional practices are to light many candles in one’s house and giving sweets to friends and family. It celebrates the hope of success in the coming year.

Eid, a Muslim holiday, is a feast celebrating the end of Ramadan, the traditional month of fasting. For many years, SASA has been coordinating the dinner that celebrates the two holidays, but this year the dinner had a special meaning to members of SASA.

Following the earthquake in Kashmir, many students have been feeling a need to send aid to the affected region, which is lacking “many necessary resources”, according to Priya Joshi ’06, who gave a heartfelt presentation on the situation. The Global Relief task force and Vassar International Students Association (VISA) supported the event as well.

Joshi was touched by the “genuine concern” people felt for victims of the earthquake, judging from their willingness to learn about the affected region and the moment of silence that moved the room.

The dinner’s proceeds went towards helping the victims of Kashmir, and Reeya Banerjee of SASA was overwhelmed by the “unprecedented” turnout.

SASA was not finished for the weekend. Along with the Diwali/Eid dinner fundraiser, SASA hosted a night at the Mug on Saturday, Nov. 12 with Indian dance music, spun by local DJ Asif Lakani ’07. Banerjee said that she teamed up with Lakani to plan Bhangra night, and they “worked on the music for a long time.”

The turnout was impressive, as the Harvest Ball was also going on. By the end of the night, Banerjee commented that the mug was “packed.” Many students came who were not familiar with Indian dance music, and were pleasantly surprised.

As we get into our hectic season of festivities, SASA can breathe a sigh of relief that their major holiday efforts are, for the moment, completed. Joshi said that it would be “great to see this much support for other events we will be hosting throughout the year.”