On Oct. 11 the Oakland Center’s Gold rooms took on the sounds, taste and celebration of Navratri, the Indian Dance Carnival.
The annual Hindu festival arrived at OU by the hand of the Indian Students Association (ISA). While not nine days of celebration were hosted like those in India, the campus event included traditional Garba and Dandiya dances, a prayer for the Goddess Durga and a vegetarian menu.
“We are gathered here today to celebrate one of India’s most vibrant and spiritually significant festivals that is Navratri,” Khyati Sharma, ISA treasurer said. “Navratri is basically a nine-day festival, and each of them is dedicated to nine forms of Goddess Durga”
With a maxed-out RSVP list on GrizzOrgs, over two dozen tables were full of students, faculty and family members. The event kicked off with a prayer for Ma Durga in front of a small altar next to the dancefloor.
“Everything is related to light, whatever festivals that we celebrate is, it’s a metaphor for light,” ISA President, Jigyasa Soni, said. “Maa Durga is one of our gods, she basically conquered evil for continuously nine days. So we celebrate her in different forms for nine continuous days.”
The ISA e-board opened the dancefloor with a traditional Garba and Dandiya dance performance inviting all attendees to enjoy two hours of music.
“We did the circle dance, there was a beautiful meaning to that because we revolve together in a circle that’s been formed which symbolizes the life cycle,” Vishaka Sharma, ISA secretary said. “It brings unity and harmony amongst people. We believe that with us keeping more such events, there will be other communities that will join in and also learn what we do culturally.”
Chana Masala, Pakora and Gulab Jamun were some of the all-vegetarian dishes served at the party. The lack of meat on the menu also reflected traditional festive practices, Soni explained.
“It was amazing to actually see people come in, enjoy and feel at home even though it’s far away,” ISA President, Jigyasa Soni, said. “When we talk about India, it’s overseas, and as an international student myself, it has been a challenge to actually experience my own native feeling. So getting it all together in one place was a good feeling.”
Special attire was also central to the event, with colorful and embellished kurtis and dupattas worn by women and kurtas and Indo-western outfits worn by men.
“I’m from Rajasthan, and because Rajasthan is a deserted area, it is filled with colors that humans wear,” Soni said. “So, because everything is sunny and brown and stuff, all the human colors add to get some good vibes and bring in positivity to the environment.”
The ISA highlighted surprise and suspense as their signature for this year with an unexpected return of the student organization to campus and surprise events throughout the academic year.
“ISA started [again] as randomly as it could have really started,” Soni said. “The idea actually popped up in the SPB carnival we ended up meeting there and we thought, ‘Can we host something like this and celebrate our culture as well?’”
ISA planned on spontaneous advertising techniques to create traction for their upcoming surprise events.
“We recently had a flash mob, which was like a surprise element to promote ISA and say, ‘ISA is back on campus’ after COVID,” Soni said. “There’s a lot of grandeur that’s coming, but we’ll keep it a secret.”
