Indian students of US varsity to host Diwali celebrations

The Indian Student Association of Ohio University will host Diwali celebrations featuring traditional dances and Bollywood music at the Baker Ballroom on Sunday, a media report said.

Guests at the event will be able to learn about the significance of Diwali and how the festival of lights is celebrated in India, the Post, of Ohio University, quoted student association president Swathi Raghu as saying.

Diwali celebration will be catered by Tadka, a restaurant in Columbus, association secretary Shivam Agrawal said, adding the menu will include traditional Indian cuisine.

The Indian Student Association does not run the event for profit, Raghu, who is a graduate student studying electrical engineering, said. They receive the majority of the funding from the International Student Union, she added.

All 300 tickets for the 'Diwali: Festival of Lights' celebration have been sold.

According to the Office of Institutional Research, as of 2014 there are more than 100 students from India studying at Ohio University.

"When you are far away from home, you tend to be more homesick during a festival time, so to compensate for that we gather and get together with whoever we know and try to feel like we are at home," said Rohit, a graduate student of electrical engineering at the US university.