Diwali Festival lights up the Union Ballroom
Saba Naseem
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: News
Colors, lights, food and dancing filled the Union Ballroom Sunday night in celebration of the 40th annual Diwali festival.
The room was crowded with more than 700 guests, Indians and non-Indians alike, most of them dressed in glamorous clothes.
The festival began with the introduction of special guests Veronika Salaazar and Susan Gauch, who were invited to the stage.
"I am very grateful to have been given this honor. As Albert Einstein once said, 'We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made,'" Salaazar said.
"I have learned a lot through my Indian friends - I have learned that you will always move your head and hands when you talk and that no matter how big or small things are done for you, you will always be grateful," she said.
Friends of India catered from Gopuram Restaurant in Oklahoma City. The dinner included vegetable biryani, palak paneer, chicken tikka masala and various other traditional dishes.
"This was the first time I was having Indian food," said Kate Dickenson, a freshman art major. "It was really good, but a bit on the spicy side. And the gulab jammun was too sweet for me."
The curtains opened with a traditional dance from south India called Kuchipudi performed by Sangani Bharvawa. Intricate footwork and hand movements left the crowd cheering during and after the performance. It was followed by a kids' Bollywood dance and then a bhangra.
"The bhangra was originally done at times of harvest in Punjab, but now it's performed to celebrate any special occasion," said Navneet Kaur, a senior psychology major and participant in the bhangra. "I think we performed well - at one point, the crowd was cheering so loudly I couldn't hear the music."
This particular dance consisted of a couple of songs, the first being about shy dancing girls while one bold girl dances with her husband.
The second song tells the story of a husband coming home drunk and the wife threatening to leave him and join the nuns.
The room was crowded with more than 700 guests, Indians and non-Indians alike, most of them dressed in glamorous clothes.
The festival began with the introduction of special guests Veronika Salaazar and Susan Gauch, who were invited to the stage.
"I am very grateful to have been given this honor. As Albert Einstein once said, 'We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made,'" Salaazar said.
"I have learned a lot through my Indian friends - I have learned that you will always move your head and hands when you talk and that no matter how big or small things are done for you, you will always be grateful," she said.
Friends of India catered from Gopuram Restaurant in Oklahoma City. The dinner included vegetable biryani, palak paneer, chicken tikka masala and various other traditional dishes.
"This was the first time I was having Indian food," said Kate Dickenson, a freshman art major. "It was really good, but a bit on the spicy side. And the gulab jammun was too sweet for me."
The curtains opened with a traditional dance from south India called Kuchipudi performed by Sangani Bharvawa. Intricate footwork and hand movements left the crowd cheering during and after the performance. It was followed by a kids' Bollywood dance and then a bhangra.
"The bhangra was originally done at times of harvest in Punjab, but now it's performed to celebrate any special occasion," said Navneet Kaur, a senior psychology major and participant in the bhangra. "I think we performed well - at one point, the crowd was cheering so loudly I couldn't hear the music."
This particular dance consisted of a couple of songs, the first being about shy dancing girls while one bold girl dances with her husband.
The second song tells the story of a husband coming home drunk and the wife threatening to leave him and join the nuns.
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