The South Asian Student Association (SASA), Bollywood Club and Hindi National Honor Society (HNHS) organized the annual Bellaire Diwali Festival on Thursday, Nov. 7. The performances consisted of a skit, fashion show and collection of songs and dances.

Senior and audience member Feifan Liu enjoyed seeing his friends onstage at the performance.

“My favorite [performance] was probably Tejeshwar and Jatin’s ‘Hum India Waale,’” Liu said. “Jatin was up there and he was really getting into it.”

Liu has been to similar performances at Bellaire, such as the Holika dance competition which the same three clubs put on in March, and has always enjoyed watching cultural performances.

“The [South Asian] community is really strong,” Liu said. “The relationship that Bollywood Club, SASA and HNHS has with Mrs. Goswami is really cool.”

The performance began with a skit about the origins of Diwali performed by members of the HNHS and SASA, followed by a fashion show featuring Bellaire students and teachers in traditional Indian attire.

Members of Bollywood Club performed a total of four dances: a Kathak–Bharatnatyam fusion dance, a Bollywood-style dance, a Garba-style dance and a South Indian-style dance.

Freshman Aarya Joshi performed at the festival for the first time. While it was Joshi’s first year in Bollywood Club, she has Bollywood and classical dance experience.

“I was a bit nervous, and it was a bit chaotic, but I think we all got it together [in] the end,” Joshi said. “I [heard] some of my friends cheering [in the audience], so I was really happy.”

Joshi feels that performing in the festival gave her an opportunity to make friends and meet new people.

“[Bollywood] Club provides a good place for everyone to just celebrate together,” Joshi said. “I made many friends [with] people older and wiser [than me].”

While the performance was a first for some, it was senior and Bollywood Club president Saachi Gupta’s third and final Diwali Festival at Bellaire.

“It was just a little bittersweet because I’ve put a lot of effort [into Bollywood Club], and I’ve come really far [in the club],” Gupta said. “Diwali is one of our more intimate events, because it’s just us, our families and our friends, so it feels more personal.”

Along with choreographing and dancing in the Garba dance, Gupta performed the South Indian-style dance with the senior officers of Bollywood Club.

“The South Indian performance was fun because it was really energetic and I felt like the crowd was pretty hooked on,” Gupta said. “My favorite part was seeing all my family and friends there and being able to [host] this event.”

SASA, Bollywood Club and HNHS will collaborate again this March for the annual Holika dance competition.