College students gather for Diwali celebrations

Hundreds gathered for Diwali celebrations at Okanagan College in Kelowna, in a day filled with traditional sweets, chai tee, and Henna tattoos.

Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights and different events are celebrated in the Hindu and Sikh faiths to mark the day.

For Gangandeep Singh Dhillon and his friends, many of whom were dressed in traditional clothing, being able to celebrate in Kelowna is important.

“As international students, we are not well connected to our culture anymore because it’s totally different over here,” he said. “The college doing Diwali is special for us so we can meet more international people and it’s going to be nostalgic and it’s good for those students to stay connected to their culture.”

Alongside the comradery, Dhillon enjoys the sweets.

“We can eat many kinds of sweets and it brings back lots of memories.”

Wenshika, another student at Okanagan College, said celebrating the Indian tradition in a Canadian college helps bring a sense of familiarity.

“All the Indian students are gathered here, and all are wearing the traditional outfits and we’re showing our Indian culture in the college,” she said. “It just reminds us of our homes when we used to do this with our relatives and friends and family. But here we have all our friends who are like our family celebrating so it’s really good.”