As soon as you walked through the breezeway, colorful posters greeted you introducing various aspects of Indian culture and beautiful saris hung from the ceiling. Kent Place’s India Fest was filled with lively performances, creative henna art, and delicious food. Here are some things you might have missed from this celebration.
Diwali:
India Fest was created to celebrate Indian culture and Diwali. Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is a festival of lights. It is one of the major festivals celebrated by many including Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika. This year it fell on Thursday, November 4, 2021.
Dance:
Throughout the night, dances were performed varying from modern, traditional, and a fusion between both. Some dances were based on a story or Bollywood movie which added a unique backdrop to the performance.
Featured Dancers: Anika with Karina Bhatia, Rhiya Parmar, and Dance Troupe
Speakers:
Sara Shee, Sahana Kapoor, Seema Parmar, Anyra Kapoor, and Aadya Bhardwarj spoke about Diwali and the different aspects of this celebration. People celebrated Diwali by cleaning and decorating their houses. Families would also perform ceremonies, light fireworks, and exchange mithai (sweets) and gifts. Diwali is the representation of rejoicing of joy trumping evil and light against dark. The speeches were then followed by the poem “Where the Mind is Without Fear” by Rabindranath Tagore.
“Where the Mind is Without Fear” by Rabindranath Tagore
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
During dinner, many tasty traditional foods were served.
Masala Chai
Made by boiling black tea with milk and water with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices
Samosa
Both chicken and vegetarian options
Slightly spicy
Mango Lassi
Made of: mango, yogurt, milk, a little sugar, and a sprinkling of cardamom
Creamy sweet drink
Throughout the halls leading up the Main Entrance, colorfully decorated posters lined the walkway featuring different aspects of Indian culture.
Fun Facts:
Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering of people on the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswathi was visible from space
India is the world’s largest democracy
India is the 2nd largest English speaking country in the world
India has the highest number of vegetarians in the world
Famous and Influential People:
Mahatma Gandhi:
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world”
Arunima Sinha:
Former Indian volleyball player, mountaineer and the first female amputee to scale Mount Everest and Mount Vinson
Came to KPS in 2016 and spoke to Middle and Upper School students
Other Achievements: Everest in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Kosciuszko in Australia, Aconcagua in Argentina, Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, Mount Vinson in Antarctica
Rocket Women of India:
BP Dakshayani - former head of flight dynamics and space navigation for the Indian space agency
Group of Indian women celebrate as Indian spacecraft successfully enter Mars orbit shone a light on the role played by women in the country’s space program
Famous Indian Artists:
Pictures:
1) Kali (1989) by Tyeb Mehta
2) Bharat Mata (1905) by Abanindranath Tagore
3) Three Girls (1935) by Amrita Sher-Gil
4) Days of glory (1952) by Satish Gujral
5) Shakuntala (1870) by Raja Ravi Varma
6) Mother and Child (1921) by Jamini Roy
7) Self Portrait (1934) by Rabindranath Tagore
8) Horses (1960) by Maqbool Fida Husain
9) Composition Geometrique (2007) by Sayed Haider Raza
10) Bapu, Dandi March (1930) by Nandalal Bose
Nobel Prize Winners From India:
Pictures:
1) Kailash Satvartbi: Nobel Peace Prize
2) Rabindranath Tagore: Nobel Prize in Literature
3) Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee: Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences
4) Venkatraman Ramakrishnan: Nobel Prize in Chemistry
5) Har Gobind Khorana: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
6) Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman: Nobel Prize in Physics
7) Amartya Sen: Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
8) Mother Teresa: The Nobel Prize in Peace
Clothing and Fabrics of India:
Clothing varies depending on the location and occasion (weddings, everyday wear, and different celebrations).
