Students enjoyed Indian food and dancing in celebration of Diwali. Photo courtesy of Ceema Mody.
Diversity is actively celebrated at Choate, and students are encouraged to express and share their cultures with the community. Last Friday, the Choate South Asian Association (CSAA) hosted a special dinner to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu, Jain, and Sikh festival of lights. There weren’t fireworks, though students enjoyed Indian dishes in the library along with traditional Indian dance performances. The club leaders also explained to the guests the historical significance of Diwali and how they celebrate it themselves.
Although Diwali is one of the biggest highlights of the South Asian calendar, it was not celebrated at Choate for a long time. The club was quite inactive for many years before Parth Mody ’19, Raddin Ivanov ’19, and Niraj Desai ’19, current leaders of the club, revamped CSAA last year. “Mr. Yanelli remembers a time when this used to be annual and the club was more popular,” said Ivanov. Mody said that the weekend schedule last year didn’t fit nicely with some major events. However, all three leaders of the club hope that future club leaders will continue to revive the spirit of the club and make this dinner an annual event again.
Desai discussed the motivation for the dinner: “We did a movie last year, which had a good turnout, but we wanted to do something that would get people talking to each other and educate them about the culture.” This turned out to be no easy task: “We couldn’t get many of the logistics figured out until a couple of weeks before the event,” said Mody, noting how ordering the right amount of food was particularly challenging because tickets started selling only three days before the event. In the end, the leaders were happy to report that the event proceeded as planned, without significant problems.
The food was catered by Zaika, an Indian restaurant in North Haven. When asked about how the choice of menu was made, the leaders said that they wanted a variety of dishes, including vegetarian options and classics, such as chicken tikka masala and naan. “We actually talked with one of the employees at Zaika, and he recommended some items,” said Mody, “so it was a combination of classics and recommendations from Zaika.”
Ivanov said, “Looking around, most of these people don’t come to the club, but when they come here, they get to learn about Diwali and experience Indian food and Indian dancing. I think it’s just a great opportunity to learn something about a culture that you don’t know about.” “They add so much to Choate’s diversity; I think more people need to embrace diversity, and I know, having organized one event, I’ll definitely go to more events like these” said Mody.
