On October 22, 2022, Medway celebrated a first – Medway’s First Annual Diwali Festival held at Oakland Park! This community-wide event was conceived by Medway residents, Jyoti Ranjan and Stuthi Balaji, and brought to fruition through partnership with Medway Marches, Medway Cultural Council, community volunteers and the town of Medway. A memorable evening of fun, food, festivities and cultural learnings was enjoyed by all.

Medway resident and event emcee, Stuthi Balaji, shared some context around the celebration of Diwali being “one of the most popular festivals from the Indian subcontinent [that] symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance”. The festival gets its name from the row of clay lamps that are lit outside our homes during this time symbolizing our inner light that protects us from spiritual darkness.”

Given that dance is an integral part of most Indian celebrations, three popular dance styles, the Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Bollywood were featured in the evening’s program. Krithika Rajkumar, an acclaimed performer and teacher of the Bharatnatyam in the Greater Boston area who has been practicing this dance form for over 25 years wowed attendees with her presentation and performance. The Khatak was beautifully performed by Ameyaa Kayastha of Burlington and our very talented Medway student, Palak Yadav, presented an energetic, delightful mix of popular Bollywood numbers.

Another highlight definitely worth a shout-out was the pot-luck style buffet – appetizers, main dishes, desserts and drinks representing a multitude of regional Indian cuisines were provided by attendees and thoroughly enjoyed by assembled guests. Kids activities, in addition to the dance offs on the basketball court, were presented in the colorfully decked out Oakland pavilion including henna tattoos, diya (clay lamps) decorations, rangoli.