By Sneha Balasubramaniam
The word “Diwali” is a contraction of “Deepavali”, originating from the Sanskrit word Dīpāvalī which can be translated to “Row of Lights”. Hence the Diwali Festival is also called the “Festival of Lights”. Diwali is the name for the festival in North-India. In South-India the festival is called “Deepavali”. Diwali celebrates the victory of Good over Evil and Light over Darkness. Diwali marks the end of the harvest season in most of India. Farmers give thanks for the bounty of the year gone by, and pray for a good harvest for the year to come. Traditionally this marked the closing of accounts for businesses dependent on the agrarian cycle, and is the last major celebration before winter. Lakshmi symbolizes wealth and prosperity, and her blessings are invoked for a good year ahead.
Thunderbird had its own unique way of celebrating Diwali. Being such a Global place that it is, it was amazing to see how different cultures came together to learn and enjoy the celebrations and be a part of it. It all began with a lot of preparations to get the venue set up and lit with colourful lights that made it look beautiful that evening. The ISCC put a great show to get it to action. We began with the prayers and Aarti in the traditional way followed by heartfelt Diwali wishes to one another. Authentic Indian food was the major attraction of the evening. All the women looked their gorgeous best dressed in colourful saris. Despite a few technical difficulties the show went on.
No Indian festival is complete without a Bollywood touch to it. Great music and some amazing moves got us all grooving and it truly displayed the image of Thunderbird to be one big family. We had a few talented singers and performers take the stage. An eventful night and memories captured by great photographers o spam on Facebook.
This being my first as a TBird and can definitely vouch for Thunderbird being a Global place with an awesome diversity.
