SASA (South Asian Student Alliance), Harvard Westlake’s South Asian affinity group, celebrated Diwali during their meeting on Friday, October 24th.
Diwali, otherwise known as the Festival of Lights, is a holiday celebrated by Hindus mainly in South Asia on October 20th, 2025. Diwali is a five day celebration that celebrates the triumph of good over evil, commemorating the victory of Lord Krishna over demon Narakasura.
“We just launched a Diwali meeting celebrating the diversity of how Diwali is celebrated in many different ways. We look forward to continue serving the South Asian community.” said Shrey Maniar ‘29, one of the student leaders of SASA.
At the meeting, the leaders organized many activities for students to partake in. They had Rangoli, a craft making patterns using colored rice or flour to symbolize inviting prosperity and good fortune into your home. There was also diya decorating, where people could decorate candles signifying knowledge over ignorance and enlightenment. Finally, the leaders provided many Indian sweets and drinks like lassi to celebrate the holiday.
“We did rangoli this year and that was really fun,” Kavya Dandillaya ‘30 said. “We prayed and ate lots of good food that my mom made. We also put lights around thatreally welcomed Diwali. Diwali’s one of my favorite times to spend with family.”
The meeting seemed to be a big hit with many students, South Asian and not, going to it and participating in the activities.
“The Diwali meeting was amazing and really emphasized the meaning of Diwali and how the HW community can connect based on how different people celebrate it.” Adler Carson ’29 said.
Ayana Artaega ’29, one of the SASA leaders, was excited to have so many people at their meeting this year and hope to continue to expand their collective!
