HSC’s Navratri 2009

By Anish Malpani 9 October 2009 167 views No Comment

“Navratri” means nine nights, and is one of the many colorful and highly entertaining cultural festivals of India. It extends quite understandably to nine nights of celebration and festivities. It is also an excuse to dress up in your fanciest Indian attire and dance until your fanciest Indian attire gets drenched in sweat. Hindu Students Council, University of Texas at Austin’s Best Cultural Organization 2008-2009, condensed the nine days of festivities into one solid night of dancing, bonding, socializing, sweating and most importantly, celebrating the Indian in you.

This past Friday, October 2^nd, UT’s South Mall was witness to loud Indian beats and a fairly large chunk of Indian people. Non-conventional Indian food like non-Chicken-Tikka Masala and non-Naan-related Indian food was served. Our stomachs were exposed to a rare taste of Marathi “Pav Bhaji” and South Indian “Dosa” - kudos to HSC on being slightly ‘hat-ke’ (i.e. different). What was also brilliant about the night was that entrance and “dandiya” sticks were all free of cost. So yes, imagine 500 or so brown people, dazzling in their Indian attire of “kurtas,” “sarees” and “salwars,” unleashing their dance moves to all types of India music in some truly delightful weather. It started off with traditional garba/raas where a whole cluttering of “dandiya” sticks dominated the airwaves and slowly but surely, progressed onto some non-stick-related Bhangra andBollywood music till midnight.

The only disappointment was the DJ - the crowd at times seemed visibly upset with some of the music he played. But this did not really deter the night from being a successful one because it is hard to go completely wrong with Indian music. However, what was really nice to see was a whole bunch of non-Indians, dressed in Indian attire, letting loose to some hard core Indian music. Navratri is essentially a “Hindu” celebration, but it was super to see a plethora of races get together and enjoy a pure, clean and cultured night.

On a personal note, being an international Indian student, I think it’s truly fantastic how easy it is for me to be connected to my culture, even though I am oceans away from home. HSC, in addition to the numerous other South Asian organizations, does a really good job keeping the South Asian population in tune with their culture. Navratri 2009 was a solid example of this very fact.