The McGarvey commons were lit up on Saturday night as the South Asian Student Organization (SASO) hosted the Diwali dinner, a celebration for the Indian New Year. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism which they celebrate every autumn. Diwali symbolizes the spiritual, “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.”

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The evening was filled with music, food, dancing, and lights. Moha Desai, a general SASO member, performed a Padmaavat dance melody to get the dancing started for the night. Priya Patel, the SASO president, and Karishma Mali, SASO and MCC representative, preformed a duo dance together that made everyone clap along. The last dance included all of the SASO members performing together, as a grand finale. At the end of the evening, they opened the dance floor, giving everyone a chance to dance and show off their best moves.

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Sophomore Dylan Free was one of the many who attended the Diwali dinner. As a representative between the MCC and the International Student Organization, he found out about the event through both of those organizations.

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“The food is all really good, and it is a fun atmosphere to be at. I am also really excited to watch the dances that they are going to perform later,” Free stated. “I would recommend it because there is free food and it is something different to do, and it is experience you won't get elsewhere.”

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Karishma Mali, Junior, is a SASO and MCC representative. She thought that the night went well. “The turnout was really good, and everyone was talking about how much fun they were having. People were happy to eat Indian food because they hardly ever get it, and everyone was happy to get to dance and listen to the Indian music. I am happy with how everything turned out.” However, there is always room to improve events on campus.

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“There was supposed to be a table that you could paint candle holders because it is an Indian tradition, but they forgot to put out the table, so we could not do it. I was really looking forward to it and wanted everyone else to get to do it,” Mali said, when asked if there was anything she would have changed about the night.

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Mali expressed just how important the night was to her, and how much it meant that SASO was able to hold the event on campus.

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“It was very important to me because I got to celebrate Indian New Years with other people who celebrate this holiday with me, and it was so nice to see other people come celebrate it with us even though it is not a common holiday for them.”