Happy Republic Day!

India celebrated its 62nd Republic Day on 26th January 2013 to honor the Constitution of India.

Happy Republic Day

Happy Sankranthi

Historically, Sankranthi is the transmigration of the sun from one Rashi to the other. It is considered as the Indian New Year and is celebrated as a major harvest festival to mark the arrival of the sun and the end of winter. It is celebrated differently in different places but the most common celebration in most states is flying kites. Lohri is celebrated in the northern part of India to mark the end of winter by dancing and playing around a fire.

Nirbhaya

We mourn the death of "Nirbhaya" - the brave 23-yr old girl who was mercilessly raped in Delhi on Dec 16, 2012. The "Black dot" has been used to replace profile pictures on most social media in protest to this incident.

Please join in to make your voice heard. Our deepest condolences go out to the family of the victim.


--Team Drishti ISA

Happy Children's Day!

Children’s day is celebrated on November 14^th in India on the birthday of Chacha Nehru – the country’s first Prime Minister.

Here are a few memories of the Nation’s great leader – The first postage stamp.

This day is emphasized the importance of giving love and affection to children, who he saw as the bright future of India.

Google had celebrated Children’s day last year based on the doodle which was the brainchild of Varsha Gupta.

 

Happy Diwali!

Diwali is the festival of lights. The significance of the lights is to portray the triumph of good over evil. These lights are kept lit throughout the night to welcome Goddess Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth.

 

Firecrackers are burnt on this day to drive the evil spirits away.

Diwali is a 5 day festival and each day has its own significance:

The festival starts with Dhanteras on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year.

The second day of the festival is called the Naraka Chaturdasi.

Amavasya, the third day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

The fourth day of Diwali is known as Kartika Shudda Padyami.

The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.

To signify this festival and to help everyone celebrate this together, The Indian Student Association (Drishti) is celebrating this festival on Nov-18-2012 at The University of Akron. Please do join us in the celebration J

Happy Dussehra

Dussehra...

There are 2 major reasons to celebrate Dussehra:

The name is derived from Sanskrit “Dasha-hara” means remover of ten referring to Lord Rama's defeat of the ten-headed demon king Ravana. On this day, Lord Ram killed the great demon Ravana who had abducted Rama's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Rama, his brother Lakshmana, their follower Hanuman and an army of monkeys fought a great battle to rescue Sita.

The day also marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasur. The name Vijayadashami is also derived from the Sanskrit words "Vijaya-dashmi" meaning the victory on the dashmi (Dashmi being the tenth lunar day of the Hindu calendar month). Hence Dasha-Hara is also known as Navratri or Durgotsav and is a celebration of Durga's victory. Durga, as Consort of Lord Shiva, represents two forms of female energy - one mild and protective and the other fierce and destructive.

To mark the return of Lord Rama, in the evening, the residents of Ayodhya lit their city with millions of earthen lamps (called Deepak). Since then, this day is celebrated in India as Deepawali or Diwali.

Dusshera is celebrated all over India for various other reasons.

The BIG DIWALI Invite!

The Indian Student Association invites you to the annual BIG DIWALI party!

Hope to see you there!