Something about Indian festivals really appeals to me, though I’m not actually Indian. Perhaps it’s the peaceful, spiritual rhythm of Indian music and dancing that attracted me to the Diwali show last Saturday night at West Hall.
I arrived a few minutes before the start of the show, and the room was already packed. Hundreds of students had come from schools as far away as Utica College and SUNY-Binghamton to see RPI’s Diwali show.
Diwali is a five-day celebration that marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year. Called the festival of the lights, the name Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word deepavli, meaning a row of lighted lamps. These lamps are lit by Indians to symbolize a victory by good over evil and the lifting of spiritual darkness.
My favorite part of the evening was a performance by the Film Song Orchestra. Using a diverse group of Indian instruments, they created a strikingly beautiful blend of stirring songs. I was quite impressed by their mastery of harmony and flawless dynamics. Though I have listened to Indian music numerous times in the past, I had never heard Indian songs played with as much feeling.
No festival is complete without dancing; the dances during the act “Fashion Show 3” were certaintly impressive. “Fashion Show 3” focused on the marriage ceremony of an Indian couple. The couple sat together holding hands on a throne, while dancers continously circled around them wearing colorful costumes. Despite the rapid pace of their motion, the dancers performed without making a single mistake—at least not any mistakes that I noticed.
In addition to music and dancing, the Diwali show also featured some hilarous comic skits. In a mock-up of the TV reality show “American Idol,” audience members watched the Indian Students Association’s executive board review a few of the “rejects” that they had left out of the show. These “rejects” included a clumsy dancer, a person singing and dancing to rap music, and a participant singing N’Sync-like music.
Later, during a spoof on the “The Price is Right,” participants selected from the audience had to bid on two showcases. Showcase number one, a trip to India, included a bungalow with a view of the Indian ocean, an old beat-up car, a bus with broken windows, and a deisel-powered train with a capacity of 5000—India is particulary behind the times when it comes to transportation. The second showcase, a home furnishings package, came with a toilet and toilet paper, an industrial-strength bug zapper and a generator to power that zapper—this was apparently poking fun at the power problems in India. Somehow, the price of the second showcase came out to be higher than the first showcase, at 60,000 rupees to 30,000—not like I would be caught dead paying any more than 10,000 rupees for either, though.
At the end of the show, performers held up candles and U.S. and Indian flags to represent the important connection between our two countries. This was a good ending to a spectacular Diwali festival, and I look forward to next year’s festival.
