Published 2002-10-23T00:00:00Z”/>
Suzanne Snyder<br>Staff Writer
There’s more to India than tigers, elephants and Mahatma Gandhi.
The Indian Student Association at Chico State University celebrated Navratri, the festival of nine days, in the Whitney Hall Recreation Center Saturday night, paying homage to goddesses in the Hindu religion.
Sachin Gupta, president of ISA, said the nine days are dedicated to three main goddesses – Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati.
“Parvati is the goddess of action and energy. Lakshmi represents peace and plenty, and Sarasvati is the goddess of knowledge,” Gupta said.
He said the festival is held for reveling in the knowledge that the goddesses live inside people, giving them spiritual energy and power.
The annual Navratri festival is celebrated in a variety of ways throughout India depending on which part of the country the performance evolved from.
The celebration on campus began with the puga, or music and clapping to worship the god Durgama. The room of more than 100 people soon erupted into the traditional dance of garba.
“I feel very welcome in Chico and having this celebration here is like being back home again,” said dancer and graduate student Supriya Kakirde.
As the music increased in tempo, more barefoot guests wearing Salwar Kameez and Patiala, traditional Indian costumes, joined the rotating circle of celebration.
“I love to see people from different cultures coming together,” said graduate student Bhavesh Patel. “I am overjoyed to celebrate this festival on such a large scale at Chico State.”
Senior Janet Robbins said that Saturday was her first experience with Indian culture.
“This is intense,” Robbins said. “The music, the dancing, the food – incredible.”
Chico resident Dina Patel said she had celebrated the festival at a temple in Yuba City, but never in Chico.
“It is so nice having it here and bringing all of the families together,” Patel said.
Gupta said the ISA held the event on campus this year hoping to educate people about Indian culture.
Gupta said that people still live under the impression that India is a very backward country with no modern technologies, and he hoped that offering events like the Navratri would break down misconceptions about the Indian culture.
“People still think that India is a country of snakes and tigers,” Gupta said. “I am always being questioned by students and professors asking if India has high-rises, Pizza Hut or McDonald’s.”
Gupta said the majority of ISA members are graduate students studying for their master’s degrees in computer science, computer and electrical engineering or management information systems.
“Most of the 110 students in the ISA completed their undergraduate study in English before leaving India to come to Chico State,” Gupta said. “This is their first time in the United States, and Chico is their first home.”
He said that new students find out about the association on the Internet by checking out the ISA Web site, <a href= “http://www.csuchico.edu/india”>www.csuchico.edu/india</a>, and communicate immediately wanting to know what or what not to bring to the United States.
“They don’t know anything about the lifestyle of Americans,” Gupta said.
The festival helps these students make the difficult transition by providing a way to celebrate the Navratri tradition with other Indian families in the community and with American friends.
“We came to the conclusion that from this cultural event, we will start projecting ourselves – who we are and what we do in India,” Gupta said.
ISA adviser Shekhar Misra said that by presenting this special night of celebration the club will generate cultural awareness on campus about India.
“Our campus is not very diverse culturally and this may provide student, faculty and staff a glimpse of how diverse our world really is,” Misra said.
<em>Suzanne Snyder can be reached at <a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a></em>
