Diwali, the Festival of Lights is an annual celebration during late October or early November. Diwali signifies the victory of good over evil, from darkness unto light. The Hindi class provided entertainment through classical and modern Indian dance and dishes.

The students involved prepared months in advance to ensure that the entertainment was professional. Senior Lisha Patel described the hours of hard work spent learning her dances.

“We didn’t have any time in Hindi class so I had to practice after school every day for the past month until 6pm,” Patel said.  “I was one of the main choreographers, so I had to teach a lot of people the dances.”

Junior Krisha Modi talked about the process behind the Diwali performances. She along with everyone else involved put a lot of thought into their dances.

“For the choreography, some of it was already preplanned in my Rhythm India Dance Group,” Modi said, “If some of the moves were hard to learn then we improvised and tried to fix it. In total, everything took a month to teach and get ready for performing.”

Even though staying after school every day was tiring, Patel still enjoyed practicing and dancing for Diwali.

“I have been dancing ever since I was 4 and I have always loved it,” Patel said.  “It was fun being able to teach others the dances. It was tiring to stay after school every day, but I really liked how fun the whole experience was in the end.”

The many practices after school prepared the students for their time onstage and both Patel and Modi were excited rather than anxious. The experience was exhilarating, and neither will forget their time on stage.

“I was not really anxious back stage because I had practiced so much,” Patel said. “Everyone practiced so much so I knew we could do it. I felt a lot of energy on stage. Everyone was screaming your name and you expect it to be really good and it was. You have nailed it. It is a great feeling. Diwali was a really great experience for me because I have never performed for a big crowd and it was great.”

Modi felt the same excitement on stage and was happy with the results that came from her hard work and determination.

“I loved the energy that Diwali brought to the Hindu community,” Modi said. “As soon as that music comes on, you feel empowered by energy. The steps just came naturally, and at the end of the dance I felt really relieved and happy that the audience enjoyed it.”