Students Archana Kharel, left, Puja Sapkota, middle, and Namrata Phuyal, right, sing the Nepalese national anthem.
Annie Goodman/ The Lion's Roar
Of the Nepalese holidays, Dashain, a 15 day long festival to celebrate the gods defeating the demons, is the longest and most notable.
“Dashain is the biggest festival for Nepalese Hindus,” said Nepalese Student Association at Southeastern President Aabishkar Timalsina, senior computer science major. “To relate it with Christianity, it would be a mixture of Christmas and Thanksgiving. In Dashain, basically what we do is we visit our parents, our grandparents, our family members, our friends and have a good time.”
On Saturday, Sept. 30, NSAS held a Dashain celebration in the Student Union Ballroom. Leading up to their celebration, NSAS fundraised with “HENNA TATTOO.”
“Since the festival has such religious significance, it definitely has a huge importance in Nepalese culture,” said Master of Ceremonies Basanta Khakurel. “Therefore, it is very necessary for the Nepalese Student Association at Southeastern to come together and celebrate as a family. We hope our guests understand the importance of this festival, which values the importance of good over evil.”
In their celebration, NSAS included vocal and dance performances by Nepalese students. They also gave out “Tokens of Love” to people who helped make the night successful.
NSAS Faculty Advisor Dr. George Gibson spoke at the celebration where he told of NSAS members helping people in times of need throughout the years.
“It has been my pleasure to be the faculty advisor for NSAS since its inception in 2010,” said Gibson. “One of the key themes in Dashain is for us to look for some of the good, the positive things that we can connect with.”
In his speech, Gibson also boasted the accomplishments of NSAS members.
“The academics of our members are absolutely excellent,” said Gibson. “I am very proud to see them, over these many years, not only graduate but graduate with very high honors. Many of them are now in professional level businesses. Many others are in graduate school. We are going to have many PhDs, JDs, scientists, engineers and physicists that have come from this organization.”
International students from Nepal, located over 7,000 miles east of the United States of America, have found a way to celebrate this festival on campus.
“As we are far away from home, Dashain has always been in the back of our heads,” said Timalsina. “Since we were kids, we’ve been celebrating it. So, we do not want to miss that here as well. Also, it will reflect our culture, and then it will represent us in the campus community as well.”
Avash Mishra, far left, and Aakriti Thapa, right, sing a duet during the Nepalese Student Association at Southeastern’s Dashain celebration.
Annie Goodman/ The Lion's Roar
