For the first time in the history of the University, members of Diya, the University's South Asian Association, are holding South Asia Week-which began yesterday and will run through April 13-to celebrate and educate the University community about the culture and history of South Asia.
Diya's leaders said they hope South Asia Week will be more inclusive than previous Diya events. "We wanted something in second semester that would be more educational than Diwali," said Trinity senior Vimal Derebail, co-president of Diya, about the Indian new year celebration held in November, "and that would reach more of the University."
Arun Gandhi, social activist and grandson of slain Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi, will deliver the week's keynote address, titled "Nonviolence or Nonexistence: Options for the 21st Century," tonight at 8 p.m. in Page Auditorium. The events of the week will also include a forum about Asian immigration, as well as celebrations of several aspects of South Asian culture that will include food, dance and music.
Born in Durban, South Africa in 1934, Gandhi lived with his grandfather for about 18 months starting in 1946, during which time India struggled for independence. At the age of 23, he returned to India as a journalist, and while there co-founded India's Center for Social Unity. Now a resident of Memphis, Tenn., Gandhi and his wife, Sunanda, co-founded the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence at Christian Brothers University, where Gandhi is now a scholar-in-residence. Gandhi has also written several books pertaining to topics such as racism, Indian politics and the impoverished.
The cultural component of the week will begin Wednesday evening at East Campus' Marketplace with South Asian cuisine catered by Bombay Grille. South Asian dance lessons and demonstrations in the lobby will be given by members of Diya.
On Thursday, Diya and the Asian Students Association will hold a joint forum, titled "The Changing Dynamic of Today's Asian Immigration," in room 229 of the Social Sciences Building at 7:30 p.m. The forum will include a panel of students and faculty who will discuss the historical ebb and flow of immigration from Asia to North America, as well as the specific issues facing Asian immigrants and their children, said Trinity junior Puneet Sapra, co-president of Diya.
In addition, Lalitha Krishnan, an Indian Carnatic vocalist on tour in the United States, will perform Friday at 8 p.m. in Baldwin Auditorium.
Although Krishnan is not as well-recognized in the United States as some other Carnatic musicians because this is only her second tour here, she is well respected in India and has received complimentary reviews in several of that nation's major newspapers, Sapra said.
Carnatic music consists of classical singing with percussion and violin accompaniment, Sapra said. "It's a really rich type of music," he said. "It's a heavenly type of voice-really soft and clear."
Saturday, students will meet at the West Campus bus stop at 12:30 p.m. to participate in Durham's Habitat for Humanity. The project is a collaborative effort among Diya and the South Asian Associations at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
South Asia Week will close Sunday starting at 12:30 p.m. with the celebration of Holi-the South Asian festival of colors that celebrates the arrival of spring and will include free food and games-at the East Campus Gazebo.
Gautami Shah, lecturer in the Department of Asian and African Languages and Literature and adviser to Diya, said she hopes students will take advantage of the week's events. "This is an opportunity for [South Asian students] to share what they have with other students," she said. "We all come from different walks of life.... This is an opportunity for students to expand their horizons."
The cost of South Asia Week, which will come to about $14,000, will be mitigated by donations from a wide variety of student, academic, administrative and local groups, including Duke Student Government, the Duke University Union, the Departments of Cultural Anthropology and Asian and African Languages and Literature and the North Carolina Classical Music and Dance Association, Sapra said.
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