The second annual Diyas and Delights Celebration, co-hosted by MooreUnity and the Green Front Initiative, was held at the Moorestown Recreation Center on Oct. 25, serving as a free Diwali workshop for the community. Vari Arora, co-founder of the Green Front Initiative and a sophomore at Moorestown High School (MHS), celebrates Diwali with her family, so she was excited to share her culture with others and see people connect with one another over something that may be different for them.
“There’s so much debate online about cultures being shared (and) culture appropriation, there’s so much white and black and there’s really no grey area, so from this, I want people to not just learn about what Diwali is, but the fact that culture can be shared with everyone, as long as you understand it and appreciate it and don’t rebrand it,” Vari said.
Diyas and Delights was an interactive event with dances, vendors, crafts, food and more. Diwali is recognized as one of the most celebrated Hindu festivals. Also known as Deepavali (dee-PAH-va-lee) the cultural holiday commemorates the victory of good over evil during the course of five days. The word refers to rows of diyas – or clay lamps – which are put all around homes and places of worship. The light from the lamps symbolizes the illumination within everyone, which can overcome ignorance, represented by darkness. Devotees gather in local temples, homes or community centers to spend time with loved ones, make positive goals and appreciate life. Diwali will be observed from Friday, Nov. 6, to Tuesday, Nov. 10, with the main day on Sunday, Nov. 8.
Vari’s sister Reet, also a sophomore at MHS and a co-founder of the Green Front Initiative, was glad to see people come together again for the second Diwali celebration and get to experience a piece of her culture that they might not know much about.
“It’s a lot of fun to see new faces and see how everything comes together,” Reet said. “(With Diyas and Delights), I want to get rid of some of the stereotypes that only one thing can be in one culture, even though every culture is mixed in some sort of way.”
Vari shared that she’s recently seen a greater trend of Diwali festivals happening, and she’s looking forward to going to a few different ones with Reet and their family. It’s amazing for her to see people get involved in the festivals and it’s part of the reason why she and her sister are holding their own for the second time, so they can give their peers an opportunity to be a part of it as well.
“It seems like such a great part of our community, especially with everyone being able to experience it, so to not do it again would just seem like a let-down,” Vari said. “It was so great last year, and we want to keep seeing it, so we just had to do it.”
The Green Front Initiative, also co-founded by Vari and Reet’s sister Rhea, is a youth-led nonprofit whose mission is to empower teenagers to advocate for sustainability through creativity, technology and collaboration while amplifying their voices. The nonprofit hosts community events through South Jersey and is looking to lead more youth-led events.
