{"id":20482,"date":"2021-11-11T11:32:44","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T16:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=20482"},"modified":"2021-11-11T11:32:46","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T16:32:46","slug":"diwali-brings-some-much-needed-warmth-to-an-nc-state-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/2021\/11\/11\/diwali-brings-some-much-needed-warmth-to-an-nc-state-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Diwali Brings Some Much-Needed Warmth to an NC State Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was originally published on The Technician<\/a> on Nov. 10, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, Nov. 4, the Poole College of Management threw a Diwali celebration in the Governors Scott Courtyard, complete with a Henna station, dance performances and food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the average person, Nov. 4 might have seemed like the worst day to throw an outdoor festival, particularly Diwali, the festival of lights. The temperature was in the low 40s, it had been raining most of the day and at 4 o\u2019clock the sun still hadn\u2019t come out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbothered by the weather, Priya Sharma, a second-year studying accounting, said she first learned about Diwali when she was younger. The tale follows a god, Rama,<\/a> and his goddess wife, Sita<\/a>, while they were in exile from their land in the middle of a forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt some point, Sita was kidnapped by this 10-headed demon named Ravana<\/a> and basically a war broke out,\u201d Sharma said. \u201cSo for a while Rama and his brother Lakshmana are fighting and fighting to get Sita back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Ravana is defeated and Rama, Lakshmana and Sita set their sights on returning back to their kingdom Ayodhya after a 14-year exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiwali is the day where the people lit thousands of candles so the brothers would be able to find their way back home and celebrate their return,\u201d Sharma said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Sharma, Diwali holds a special place in her heart because it\u2019s the first story she remembers being told. Even in the cold drizzling weather, the significance was not lost on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story of Diwali is the last in a series of stories about Rama, all detailed in one of the most famous Hindu epics Ramayana<\/a>, but it\u2019s not the only one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a lot of celebrations during these winter months when the weather is usually gloomy and cold and we learn so many things through that,\u201d said parent Devika Kathresal. \u201cSo in a season of dark and cold, we have celebrations of light and fireworks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing in line waiting for samosas<\/a> and mango Frooti drinks, Devika Kathresal described Hinduism plainly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though there are thousands and thousands of gods, it\u2019s all being created by humans,\u201d Devika Kathresal said. \u201c…We see God in everything. Each festival has multiple meanings and stories behind it to reflect and learn from; you aren\u2019t just worshipping it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every Hindu festival is a time to reflect and focus on something different and that reflection has a certain level of reverence to it, seen in the attire and occasional puja<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devika Kathresal\u2019s daughter, Richa Kathresal, was also there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiwali is like Indian Christmas honestly, and it\u2019s the most popular so you dress up the grandest for it,\u201d Richa Kathresal said. \u201cThat typically means it needs to be new as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diwali is a week-long celebration, so not a lot of formal Indian attire was seen last Wednesday, due much in part to the weather, but also to the fact that many had already done their major Diwali celebrations the night or days before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the weather gets even gloomier and students remain scrambling from exam to exam, Diwali festivities couldn\u2019t have come at a more perfect time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aptly put, behind all the dancing and music, was a canvas that read, \u201cThis festival of lights symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of religious status, this sentiment is well worth celebrating, and no one can stay unhappy with a samosa in hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

This article was originally published on The Technician<\/a> on Nov. 10, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, Nov. 4, the Poole College of Management threw a Diwali celebration in the Governors Scott Courtyard, complete with a Henna station, dance performances and food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the average person, Nov. 4 might have seemed like the worst day to throw an outdoor festival, particularly Diwali, the festival of lights. The temperature was in the low 40s, it had been raining most of the day and at 4 o\u2019clock the sun still hadn\u2019t come out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbothered by the weather, Priya Sharma, a second-year studying accounting, said she first learned about Diwali when she was younger. The tale follows a god, Rama,<\/a> and his goddess wife, Sita<\/a>, while they were in exile from their land in the middle of a forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt some point, Sita was kidnapped by this 10-headed demon named Ravana<\/a> and basically a war broke out,\u201d Sharma said. \u201cSo for a while Rama and his brother Lakshmana are fighting and fighting to get Sita back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Ravana is defeated and Rama, Lakshmana and Sita set their sights on returning back to their kingdom Ayodhya after a 14-year exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiwali is the day where the people lit thousands of candles so the brothers would be able to find their way back home and celebrate their return,\u201d Sharma said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Sharma, Diwali holds a special place in her heart because it\u2019s the first story she remembers being told. Even in the cold drizzling weather, the significance was not lost on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story of Diwali is the last in a series of stories about Rama, all detailed in one of the most famous Hindu epics Ramayana<\/a>, but it\u2019s not the only one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a lot of celebrations during these winter months when the weather is usually gloomy and cold and we learn so many things through that,\u201d said parent Devika Kathresal. \u201cSo in a season of dark and cold, we have celebrations of light and fireworks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing in line waiting for samosas<\/a> and mango Frooti drinks, Devika Kathresal described Hinduism plainly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though there are thousands and thousands of gods, it\u2019s all being created by humans,\u201d Devika Kathresal said. \u201c...We see God in everything. Each festival has multiple meanings and stories behind it to reflect and learn from; you aren\u2019t just worshipping it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every Hindu festival is a time to reflect and focus on something different and that reflection has a certain level of reverence to it, seen in the attire and occasional puja<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devika Kathresal\u2019s daughter, Richa Kathresal, was also there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiwali is like Indian Christmas honestly, and it\u2019s the most popular so you dress up the grandest for it,\u201d Richa Kathresal said. \u201cThat typically means it needs to be new as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diwali is a week-long celebration, so not a lot of formal Indian attire was seen last Wednesday, due much in part to the weather, but also to the fact that many had already done their major Diwali celebrations the night or days before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the weather gets even gloomier and students remain scrambling from exam to exam, Diwali festivities couldn\u2019t have come at a more perfect time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aptly put, behind all the dancing and music, was a canvas that read, \u201cThis festival of lights symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of religious status, this sentiment is well worth celebrating, and no one can stay unhappy with a samosa in hand.<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, Nov. 4, the Poole College of Management threw a Diwali celebration in the Governors Scott Courtyard, complete with a Henna station, dance performances and food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":20483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":false,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"caption\":\"\",\"displayCategoryID\":1812}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1812,286],"tags":[],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-20482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-community","category-newswire"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":1812,"name":"Culture and Community","slug":"culture-and-community","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1812,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1811,"count":26,"filter":"raw"},"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20484,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20482\/revisions\/20484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20482"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=20482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}