More than 50 foreign students attended an annual Deepavali celebration organised by the Mumbai University on Friday evening at the varsity’s convocation hall. Inaugurating the event, Vice Chancellor Suhas Pednekar spoke about the rich tradition of India.

Mr. Pednekar said, “With Nalanda and Taxila, India is one of the first countries to introduce the concept of a university to the world. It is overwhelming to see so many students from across the globe come here for education.”

A mix of performances

Ganesh Joshi, head of the Department of Students Development, described the traditions and rituals surrounding the festival. The programme was a mix of cultural performances from across the globe, with one of the students playing the didgeridoo, a cylindrical wooden trumpet originating from northern Australia.

A group of students presented a folk dance called Gaur Maria, which is usually performed in parts of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Boys dressed in dhotis and colorful headgear and girls draped in traditional nine-yard saris danced in a circular formation around a boy who represented the chieftain. In the traditional Gaur Maria dance, it is performed around the chief of the tribe. Another group of students from Datar Bahire Joshi College, Chiplun, presented a folk dance called Deoli, where they held a ceremonial lamp over their heads throughout the performance. The dance form originates in the Goa-Konkan region and is performed during Deepavali. The function elicited excited and heartening responses from the participants.

“I have been in the city for three years now. I have celebrated Deepavali every year with my friends. They invite me over to their place and we have good food,” said Ibrahim Bah, a student from The Gambia pursuing a bachelor’s degree in media studies. Another student, Sayed Naweeb, said, “It has only been four months since I came to India. This is the first time I will be celebrating Deepavali. I have only seen it in Bollywood movies. I am excited about the festival.” Mr. Naweeb is also pursuing a BMS degree and hails from Kabul in Afghanistan.

Achmad Mujtaba, an Indonesian national pursuing a postgraduate degree in social work, said, “I study in the Kalina campus and I am trying to adjust in the city. This is the first time I am witnessing the festival being celebrated. I am also trying to learn Hindi.”

The event ended with traditional Deepavali delicacies being served to the students.