The newly formed Hindu Student Association of Ursinus College is taking on its first semester as an official organization, providing education about aspects of Hindu culture and religion and fostering a deeper understanding of Hinduism. Co-founders Dithya Arkalgud ’26 and Antara Dabral ’25 kick-started the association’s creation in the spring of last year, pushing for the idea to become a reality for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. After a recent first event exceeding the expectations of both Arkalgud and Dabral, the Hindu Student Association is excited and motivated by this opportunity to share who and what they really are with the rest of campus.
Giving students a sense of cultural belonging is one of the most important goals of this organization. Arkalgud shared this view, stating, “In a PWI (primarily white institution) there’s not that many people of our sort of, niche ethnicity group, and it’s just nice to have a sense of community.” The Hindu Student Association was developed under RSL (Religious and Spiritual Life) and RSL’s mission of, “Encouraging students to explore and develop their spiritual life as part of a liberal arts education.” Having a chance to share different cultural connections within Ursinus is a shared goal of both the association and RSL as a whole.
The group has already taken strides in collaborating with other associations and ethnic clubs on campus, and hopes to hold future events with the Muslim Student Association, in addition to their recent pair-up with club Desi Diaspora for their first annual Diwali Celebration. Desi Diaspora was another new addition to Ursinus this semester, after years of work to bring the club to life. The club’s mission is “…to foster community between the South Asian diaspora students on campus while sharing our culture with our Ursinus peers.” President Nethmi Ediriweera ’25 expressed her love for the club, sharing, “The things our club is doing is making a space for South Asian students, at the same time spreading awareness about our culture and having an opportunity to bring that culture into the campus.” With Arkalgud and Dabral being in leadership positions for both organizations, having these groups work together to support one another in gathering engagement and awareness is crucial. “Desi Diaspora is kind of supporting them always. We will be there always for the Hindu Student Association, because it is also spreading that Indian, or South Asian culture,” explained Ediriweera about the bond the organizations have fostered together.
On October 30th, the Hindu Student Association launched their first event in collaboration with Desi Diaspora to celebrate the second day of Diwali with students. Students and faculty alike came out to celebrate, bringing an exciting turnout for the group. Diwali is the Hindu “Festival of Lights,” spanning a 5-day celebration period. In Sanskrit Diwali, also called Deepavali, means row of lamps.
The event itself took place on the second day of Diwali, Choti Diwali. Dabral started the event with a brief presentation sharing what Diwali is, what it means in different cultural regions, and an agenda of how the event would proceed. Following the presentation, the association had a craft section for attendees to paint clay lamps called diyas, in accordance with the standard celebration for the second day. Diyas are clay lamps that usually have oil, and a wick put into them in order to light, however, the group used tealights in order to safely conduct the event indoors. “We also had little canvases to just paint on and we just had a little craft night with music going!” remarked Arkalgud. Once painting was finished the group took their diyas outside to light them, engaging in a prayer hymn while arranging the diyas in a row to fit the standard set-up of lights shared throughout Diwali celebrations.
Another highlight was Upper Wismer working with the organization to provide food for the event. They created dishes based off of recipes suggested by Dabral and Arkalgud. “It was very sweet of them. When Dithya and I went to them about food, we were not expecting much…like two or three dishes, that’s it. They showed up with like six!” exclaimed Dabral. The Hindu Student Association expressed lots of gratitude towards Upper Wismer for offering their support so willingly for the event.
Currently, the Hindu Student Association has a small member list, but the group is eager to grow through different events and activities on campus! Dabral commented on the association’s inclusive environment stating, “We are open to everybody joining us.” Whether a student practices Hinduism or is just wanting to learn more about Hinduism as a whole, the group will accept them with open arms!
Desi Diaspora also shares this open community and encourages people to attend their events if interested! The club’s main events this semester have been Bollywood movie nights. “We try to incorporate a ton of different languages as well. We had a Malayalam movie night, which was our first one of the semester, and then our second one was in Hindu – it was Om Shanti Om,” Arkalgud mentioned. Their goal is to expose the campus to South Asian culture in an enjoyable way, with movies and snacks provided for everyone to enjoy! Ediriweera elaborated on this, remarking, “It is amazing how well our community is coming together and forming a beautiful group of people that are not the same ethnicity as well. Some people are from India, and then India is Northern India and Southern India, I’m from Sri Lanka, there’s other people in the club who [are] from for example Pakistan, things like that. Even though it’s not from the same country we have a shared sort of culture, and that gives us the opportunity to bond over that, which is amazing.”
Both Desi Diaspora and the Hindu Student Association have so much more they are happy to share with the college and have expressed nothing but excitement for the events to come. Getting the chance to officially inaugurate both organizations at Ursinus was well worth the wait for Ediriweera. “We had the opportunity, and we seized the opportunity.” The next movie night for Desi Diaspora will take place November 15th, so make sure to check it out if interested!
If you want to learn more information on the Hindu Student Association, feel free to email Antara Dabral – andabral@ursinus.edu, or Dithya Arkalgud – diarkalgud@ursinus.edu with any questions. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for any upcoming events!