Indian Culture Language Club completes annual ‘Diwali 2018’
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Diwali may have passed, but celebrations are in full swing here at
Penn State. The Indian Culture Language Club hosted its 'Diwali 2018' event this Sunday,
bringing out many students and community members to celebrate the festival of light.
At 7 p.m., a crowd filled the Schwab Auditorium lobby, each waiting to see the two
comedians of the night: Rahul Subramanian and Kunal Kamra.
The comedians switched back and forth from Hindi and English in their sets, making
jokes about everything from politics to everyday situations. The performers garnered frequent
laughs from the audience and, at times, applause.
Junior mathematics major Khabir Kohli helped run the event, and said it was a great way
to integrate and educate people who might not be familiar with Indian culture. He also said that
the event was a great opportunity for the Indian community to come together.
“We as Indians want to interact and always stay in touch with our culture,” Kohli said.
“Many of us either who’ve grown up here or moved to the US have a little bit of
homesickness.”
Senior film major Reetu Shah attended the event for her second time. She had also
attended last year, noting that the ticketing process was a bit different. She was looking forward
to watching the comedians and having a good time.
“I’m just looking forward to laughing and just enjoying it,” Shah said. “I think the biggest
thing is that I know I had to come here because I was going to remember all the jokes, being
with everyone [and] laughing with everyone.”
After the standup, the Diwali event was moved over to Heritage Hall in the HUB for food,
more performances and dance. Food was included in the initial ticket price, and the event-goers
filled plates before the performances began.
There was a performance by Jay Sean, followed by DJ Vaibhav who hosted a Bollywood
hour of dancing.
Grace Miller is a freshman majoring in journalism. To contact her, email her at
lgm5130@psu.edu.
