The Middle Tennessee Indian Association hosted one of its biggest events of the year on Friday night, Sept. 30, in the Student Union Ballroom. Students brought a piece of India to campus with a celebration of “Good Over Evil” featuring Indian decorations, foods, garments, dances and Hindu rituals. Intricate garments of various colors spun around the ballroom dance floor in joyous celebration during Garba Night.
MTIA hosts the annual dance night in celebration of the nine-day Hindu festival Navaratri, which honors the nine forms of the Hindu goddess Ma Durga.”Each day of the festival, Hindus fast, pray, dress in various colors and partake in a different dance that commemorates a different phase of the goddess. Many students referred to the signature festival as the best time of the year.
“It’s super fun, you get a good exercise in. It’s basically like the happiest time of the year.” Vanee Patel said. “It’s like Good Over Evil. Everyone gets together and celebrates Garba for nine days.”
Though they couldn’t bring the full festival to MTSU, the organization highlighted the festival’s nine-day-long ceremony of dances, or the folk dance Garba, through hosting their signature Garba Night event. Their traditional dance, Garba, originating from the word “Garbha,” means a mother’s womb. The dance is seen in Hinduism as a celebration of life and creation, not just movement.
The exciting night enabled students to share their culture amongst each other and fellow Indian Associations from colleges around the state, like the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Vanderbilt University.
The event featured decorations, music and popular Indian cuisines like Paneer Tikka Masala, an Indian curry with cottage cheese, Naan, a type of bread, rice and Dal, an Indian soup. To further embrace their cultural similarities, students also donned their best garments from India: while women wore Chaniya Choli, men wore Kurtas. Many attendees adored the events’ elaborate emphasis on Indian culture. Om Patel loved sharing his culture with the MTSU community and said it made him feel at home.
“It’s a blessing in a way, I’m able to show my culture and spread it to people of all different backgrounds and cultures as well,” Patel said. “It’s kind of [like] a place of home to me. MTSU is [my] home as well, and I can have a collaboration of both worlds together.”
The event kicked off with food and refreshments, while students socialized. Then they began the ceremony with Aarti, a devotion to the goddess. Traditionally, Hindus would offer a devotion to a statue or figurine of the goddess by decorating it with flowers, placing a dot of red powder called kumkum on its forehead, offering foods such as rice and praying with a Diya plate or candle that symbolizes selfless service.
Instead, attendees emulated the ritual by placing a picture of the goddess in an offering area at the front of the stage that was surrounded by food and decorated with flowers, walnuts and grapes in front of it. Students gathered around the offering area and swapped turns pouring out their devotion with a light that symbolized the fire, while others clapped to a song of devotion.
After the devotion, students engaged in a two-hour-long session of Garba in the form of participating in the signature Garba dances, Dandiya Raas and Bhatiyali. Their dresses and garments swayed back and forth in circular unison in the middle of the ballroom all night long. Attendees shouted in rejoice on the dance floor while others watched on the sidelines in astonishment.
The executive board of MTIA culminated their night with full hearts and gratefulness, knowing they shared a piece of their lives with MTSU.
“I love it because everyone can come together, have a good time and celebrate our culture.” Said Hailey Patel, secretary of MTIA. ”I’m just glad that I get to meet other people at MTSU who share the same culture as me.”
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