Inside the Muskie Garden around 7 o鈥檆lock Monday聽night, one could hear the sounds of crunching leaves and a match taking flame.
A smell filled the air, but it wasn鈥檛 the classic New England autumnal smell of burning leaves 鈥� it was aluminum and magnesium from blazing sparklers.
The festival night of Diwali, the major Hindu celebration of light, had begun on campus.聽With the official holiday on Oct. 19, when 乐播传媒 was on break, the Multifaith Chaplaincy presented the 乐播传媒 Diwali celebration on Monday聽as students returned.
鈥淵ou associate a certain smell that comes from sparklers,鈥� says Prarthana Mocherla 鈥�21 of Old Tappan, N.J. 鈥淚t reminds me of my childhood and my home.鈥�
鈥淏ack home, my brothers and sister all fight over who gets to light the first firecracker,鈥� says Meha Jhajharia 鈥�19 of Kolkata, India.
About 50 celebrators, mostly students, gathered first at the Benjamin Mays Center for Rangoli chalk decorating and dinner, then walked to the Muskie Garden for sparklers.
Armaan Mecca '21 looks toward a sparkler he has lit. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Sukanya Shukla '20 of Gwalior, India, and Fahim Sakil Khan '20 of Dhaka, Bangladesh, embrace inside the Benjamin Mays Center. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Verma Muskan 鈥�21 and Sukanya Shukla 鈥�20 break out in dance while waiting in line for dinner at the Mays Center. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Verma Muskan 鈥�21 dances with other students in the Mays Center after the Diwali dinner. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Inside the Muskie Garden, Jhansi Kolli 鈥�21 of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Armaan Mecca 鈥�21 of Chennai, India; and Prarthana Mocherla 鈥�21 of Old Tappan, N.J., light sparklers to celebrate Diwali. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
As with similar faith traditions that celebrate light at the end of the year, Diwali is a happy time, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness and the triumph of things good over bad.
For Armaan Mecca 鈥�21 of Chennai, India, Diwali is about 鈥渃oming together to have fun, and spending time getting to know people.鈥�
His first 乐播传媒 Diwali was 鈥渟o special because I didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 experience something like this outside India.鈥�
