While in an Uber driving across Madison, Ashish Shenoy, a graduate student at UW-Madison from Bangalore, was surprised when his driver asked if he’d heard of Diwali night, an event Shenoy organizes.
Shenoy is the president of the Indian Graduate Student Association, which facilitates many events that students and community members—both of Indian heritage and not—cherish.
“I was really happy to hear that people are looking forward to the event,” Shenoy said. “That it’s not just the students, the Madison population in general.”
According to Shenoy, IGSA celebrations are landmarks in many graduate students’ careers.
“These events are actually essential for the graduate student experience over here, not just the Indian graduate students but every graduate student’s,” he said.
Diwali is one of four main events the IGSA hosts each year, second to the celebration welcoming new members.
Shenoy said in India it is the celebration of light over darkness with a plurality of religious and cultural backstories, making it one of the most widely celebrated and highly anticipated holidays of the year.
“Some people take [Diwali night] very very seriously,” he said. “The performers put in a lot of time and dedication towards it.”
At the Diwali celebration this year, performances featured Kalaanjali, Aalok Nritya and Bhangra, all traditional Indian dance forms, as well as Bollywood dancers and several singing groups.
Helping community members experience new cultures is a large focus of the IGSA, but it is a function of the university as well. On the academic side, the Center for South Asia houses most of the university’s Indian Studies courses.
“Our mandate is to promote and teach about South Asia on campus and off campus,” Associate Director of the CSA, Lalita du Perron, said.
The CSA is one of seven international centers on campus, focused mostly on India but also Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Nepal and Afghanistan. It hosts a weekly public lecture series featuring academics and professionals from both the U.S. and overseas, with the goal of introducing the Madison community to topics regarding South Asia.
The CSA also plans an annual Conference on South Asia, focusing on the education and promotion of South Asian culture and drawing up to 1,000 scholars, Perron said. This October was the 45th conference, which took place at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club.
“It’s a phenomenal networking site, old friends meeting up, there’s a lot of hugging that goes on,” Perron said. “You just don’t see that at other conferences and we really try to keep it that way.”
Both the IGSA events and the CSA community foster a common theme of hospitality and an appreciation for the community they have crafted.
“We really like to treat [attendants] like guests in our home,” Perron said about the Madisonian educators and students that come to learn about South Asia.
According to Shenoy, the success of the IGSA, much like the success of the CSA, depends on those who express enthusiasm for learning about Indian culture and history. He said the appreciation and support they receive from graduate students, faculty and Madison community members is what keeps their events and traditions alive.
While talking to his Uber driver, Shenoy said he felt happy that people outside of the university community felt strongly about Indian campus events such as Diwali.
“We ensure that all the guests get to experience this culture and understand it, and also learn new things every year., Shenoy said.
