Festival of lights showcases culture

Hundreds of fireworks will light the sky across India next week to celebrate Diwali, the “Festival of Lights.” Thousands of miles away from the subcontinent, Hindus in Odessa and Midland will also celebrate the five-day festival at the Annual Diwali Cultural Festival on Nov. 13.

The Hindu Association of West Texas hosts the event annually to raise money for their Midland temple.

Diwali, or Deepavali, is one of the biggest holidays in India, marking the start of a new year for many in the country. Roughly translated, Deepavali means “row of light,” giving the festival its name.

“The light itself signifies knowledge, and we think it is the knowledge of respecting people and respecting others,” HAWT trustee Padmaja Patel said. “It also keeps us on the right path to dispel the darkness from our minds and from our hearts. That helps us understand and practice goodness in our life.”

“It also signifies the knowledge over the ignorance and hope over despair,” Patel said.

The association’s cultural festival is a gathering of Hindus from across India to showcase their culture in dance and song performances as well as through traditional Indian cuisine. The festival is also a way to bring the celebration to the children who can’t experience the festival in India.

“Kids miss out on some of the activities we would normally do in India,” Patel said. “This festival blends into their normal day-to-day life to make it special.”

The children make up most of the dancers performing at the festival. Dancers start training as young as 2 or 3 years old, learning traditional folk and classical Indian dances. Bollywood dances, typically seen in movies of the Indian film industry, have also been popular among the younger crowd.

For the cultural festival, training is done six to eight weekends in advance.

“They really work hard preparing for this cultural program and performances,” Patel said.

Mothers invested much time in teaching the choreography to the children, Patel said, and were often trained classical dancers themselves.

Manisha Desai has choreographed dances for the festival for about six years. Desai mostly teaches folk dances from different parts of India to the children.

“It’s mainly to give exposure to the language, to Indian dance moves and to the culture,” Desai said of the importance of dance at Diwali.

Adults also get into the spirit of Diwali by scheduling practice sessions around work, but that’s easier said than done.

“A lot of us are working, so it’s hard for us to find time to pick a dance item and set up choreography,” Desai explained. “Nobody comes from a dance background, so it does take a lot of time on the weekends to practice.”

The hard work pays off when it’s time to celebrate Diwali. Patel said the festival grows in popularity each year, sometimes making it difficult for organizers to fit 600 or 700 people Permian’s auditorium.

The large turnout is a gathering of non-Hindu friends and Hindus proud to celebrate their culture.

“The beauty of living here is that we have all different representations from different parts of India,” Patel said. “This is a celebration of Hindu solidarity. That’s really why Diwali is so important to us.”