The Hindu Student Council (HSC) at Tufts University hosted a Diwali Puja at the Remis Sculpture Court on Friday, Nov  4 2016.  â€œIt is not possible for many of us to go home for Diwali. So we decided to host a celebration at Tufts and organize a Diwali Puja”, said Nikita Shukla who is the President of HSC. Nearly 80 students attended the event. 

In the Diwali tradition the hall was filled with lights symbolizing the dawn of enlightenment and the removal of ignorance.  A pooja pedestal was set up with Murthis of Lakshmi and Ganesh.  The hall was decked festively with flower garland.

HSC created pooja thali or pooja plates for all attendees so they could perform Ganesh and Lakshmi pooja individually. 

Ranjani Saigal officiated at the Pooja. She presented an overview of Diwali and the stories and the symbolism behind the prayers.  She explained the different aspects of the prayers and translated many verses into English. She guided the students through the performance of the prayer. Tufts senior Bhavna Sivasubramanium assisted her in the singing of the prayers. The students had varying degree of familiarity with prayers. Some like Ravi, a member of the core team knew many of the verses by heart. Others had little or no awareness of the pujas.  

The group included a Tufts student majoring in International Relations from Kansas who spoke flawless Hindi. “I grew up in Kansas and decided to take Hindi as a second language. I later went on an exchange program to India and lived in Mumbai. I love speaking in Hindi,” said John Sterlin. 

It was wonderful to see the love the students had for their heritage and the reverence they had for prayers. 

“We look forward to seeing you all at the Saraswathi Puja just before the exams,” said Nikita Shukla. Everyone received sweets at the end of the Puja.  Looking at the devotion with which the prayers were performed, Goddess Lakshmi is sure to bless the students with great joy throughout the year. 

|