Diwali, sometimes called the celebration of lights, is a traditional festival celebrated all over India and all over the world. It celebrates the New Year for some Indians and represents the triumph of good over evil. In India, Diwali is basically the biggest holiday, and my parents tell me that even though everyone may not celebrate the religious practices, the celebratory aspect of Diwali is something everyone participates in. The celebration usually consists of lighting lights all over India, and people of all ages set off fireworks all over the street. It’s a time of celebrating friendships and eating good food.
The SMU Diwali show is always the main program that our Indian Student Association presents every fall to commemorate this great Indian holiday. It’s an event that showcases acts from people and teams from all around the metroplex, and it has become a bit of an SMU tradition because this year’s Diwali was the 36th annual show. The show is typically emceed by two SMU students, has a fashion show component featuring SMU students in their Indian clothing, and the acts usually consist of singing and dancing. I have personally performed every year that I have been at SMU, and I have always enjoyed it. My first year, I had a solo singing act. The next year, I had a singing act with a few of my friends, and the two years after that, I have performed with my a cappella group. There’s free food afterwards, and a dance party follows that, so it really is something that a lot of people look forward to every fall.
SMU does a great job capturing this atmosphere every year. This year, my only criticism was about the balance of the acts. Usually there is a good balance of singing and dancing with some comedy possibly thrown in. The show is usually a bit longer too. This year, the show seemed too dance heavy, and at least to me, it seemed like the show was over before it ever even started. In comparison to other years though, the food was a lot better, and they had enough for a lot of people to even get seconds.
The show consisted of the singing of the American and Indian national anthem followed by the Diya Dance, the traditional opening to every SMU Diwali. The Diya dance is something the freshman girls participate in, a choreographed dance with little tea lights. The lights are turned off so all you see are the lights moving around. Following this were two dance acts (one classical and one fusion) and then the fashion show, where SMU ISA students dance up in their most extravagant Indian clothing. After that was another dance act featuring Indian Bhangra dance. My a cappella team’s performance was next and then the Senior dance performance followed that. After that, closing off the show, was another dance act. There were some AV issues with this last performance, but nothing too bad. Overall, the show was pretty well received.
My favorite part of this entire show though was the preparation leading up to it, especially the Senior dance. This was a culmination of four years of our college experience boiled down to a single six to seven minute dance, and there was a very bittersweet atmosphere about the entire situation. I loved spending time with some of my best friends at SMU as we had our last hurrah at our last SMU Diwali show. I actually met a lot of them at the first SMU Diwali show I went to, so this was sort of like coming full circle for a lot of us. The Indian Student Association at SMU has really provided me some friendships that I will cherish for many years to come.
I hope the SMU Diwali show stays a tradition in the years to come. And if you’re interested, the next big event that SMU ISA presents is R2B2 (Raas Rave Bhangra Blitz), which is a national dance competition featuring two styles of folk dance. This is a much bigger event, and about 1500 people are expected with some celebrity exhibition acts. The show usually takes place in late February in SMU’s Mcfarlin Auditorium so look out for that!
Here’s the link to the Senior Dance:
And a picture of the seniors at the end of the dance.
