Getting Down at Diwali Night

Last Thursday was one of the highlights of the fall semester in my MBA program: Diwali Night! (I really wanted to embed a clip from the hilarious Office episode about Diwali, but apparently you have to pay to view NBC clips – boooo). Anywho, Diwali is a Hindu festival of lights and we celebrate it at school with delicious Indian food, plenty of drinks and student performances. We have a happy hour social every Thursday evening at school, but Diwali blows most of them out of the water!

Indian Food

I love Indian food, but rarely eat it so I definitely enjoyed everything including tasty naan and paneer. Many of my classmates in the program are from India and Diwali Night is special for them because it gives them a little bit of the flavors and excitement of home right here in Maryland. For the rest of us, it is great to learn about our classmates and have some good old multicultural fun.

Indian Dancing at Diwali Night – Photo by Pavarit Boon

Seeing my classmates perform was also a great part of the night. The first year students learned a choreographed dance and performed wearing traditional Indian outfits. Other students sang Indian songs and performed in a fashion show.

Classmates celebrating Diwali

After the performances, people continued to hang out drinking and taking pictures into the evening.

First Year and Second Year Diwali Night

My best friend at school, Richa, is Indian and supplied me with my awesome outfit called a punjabi. Don’t we look snazzy? Richa made this handy split photo thing probably using some app I have never heard of. Thanks, Richa!