When the Hindu Festival of Lights, Diwali, hits the Hill tomorrow, Hinduism will once again return to the spotlight at Tufts. And when it does, it'll be in full force — the Hindu religion at Tufts, while small in numbers, is solidly represented by a close−knit community who worship both individually and as part of student organizations such as the Hindu Students Council (HSC).
Outside the walls of college campuses, Hinduism is classified as a minority religion in the United States, according to a 2012 statistical abstract from the U.S. Census Bureau.
This is hardly surprising, given that only with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 did a significant number of Hindus begin to immigrate to the United States from India and other parts of Asia.
The nuts and bolts of the practice of Hinduism range from person to person, but Tufts' Hindus are quick to point out that Hinduism is much more a way of life than a religion. According to the HSC's secretary, sophomore Neha Madhusoodanan, Hinduism centers on a belief that an overarching power or force balances nature and peoples' lives. Dietary restrictions, prayer schedules and participating in festivals all come secondarily, she said.
"Hindus in general are not very zealous or dogmatic about their religion because it's not really a religion," Madhusoodanan said. "We do pray to gods, but it's a lot more about philosophy."
Adhvait Shah, a senior and co−president of HSC, stressed the ubiquity and universal access to the Hindu deity.
"God is everywhere," he said. "You can remember him any time you want. As far as rituals go, Hinduism is a lifestyle. You can practice your lifestyle wherever you go. It all comes down to faith."
HSC Vice President Malvika Arya, a sophomore, explained that Hinduism is best understood in the context of "Om," a Hindu mantra that expresses the concept of the essence of the entire universe.
Contrary to Western misconceptions, Hinduism is essentially a monotheistic, rather than polytheistic religion, Arya explained.
"We pray to gods because gods are reincarnations of the force; you can't pray to a force. Om is basically the center of Hinduism," she said.
"In Hinduism, we think that God is everywhere, in every human. We pray to statues because it helps us focus, but really, God is everywhere. He's in the trees, he's in the air. Because God is so omnipresent, we don't need to take time out of our lives to remember him or to pray to him."
The concerns of Hindus who practice at Tufts are primarily logistical ones. Madhusoodanan mentioned, for example, that religious fasts called for by Hindu custom sometimes interfere with her ability to participate in dance practices.
Priyanka Kancherla, a senior and co−president of HSC, added that often the independence students gain when coming to college can be accompanied by the challenge of self−motivation.
"Here we really have to seek out — why are we doing this?" Kancherla explained. "Why are we celebrating this? At home, you have your parents to tell you what to do and how to do it. It's a much more self−driven initiative here," Kancherla said.
As is the case with many Hindus at Tufts, freshman Annirudh Balachandran's family is spread around the globe. He sees the HSC as a way to maintain a supportive community.
"You miss the family aspect of it — trips to the temple, money on holidays. Everything is a family affair. Being a part of the Hindu community at Tufts helps make that absence easier," he said.
"The good thing is you don't miss out on the social aspect of things here. You get to hang out and talk about what's going on in your life," Balachandran said.
Though many students do come to Tufts having grown up in a primarily Hindu environment, others only begin to discover Hinduism for themselves after arriving at college.
Having grown up in a particularly culturally diverse part of New York with companions who were mostly also first−generation Americans from a diverse set of backgrounds, Madhusoodanan likened her personal discovery of Hinduism when she got to Tufts to a "Julia Roberts spiritual awakening."
"I think that it took me a while before I got to a point where I wanted to practice," she said.
"My family is mixed religion — we're half Jain [a small but politically influential religion based in India] and half Hindu," Madhusoodanan said. "I think that a lot of people get to college and find their religion. Honestly, for me I think it happened out of guilt."
Kancherla said HSC has undergone a period of growth and transition since she joined as a freshman, and that it now includes between 14 and 20 regular members.
"It's been one of my most rewarding experiences here to see the club grow," she said. "We now have weekly meetings [and] people come to our events … It's been just so rewarding to know that I'm a part of that, and to watch that happen."
The club actively engages its members in traditional Hindu practices and provides them with a way to get in touch with their heritage. At the beginning of each meeting, Kancherla said, the council holds a prayer known as "aarti." During finals week of each semester, members engage in a traditional ritual in which students place all of their study materials on an altar to be blessed.
"[HSC] helps because after a long day of work … it's nice to come to meetings and relax or … make rangolis [artwork made with sand]," Balachandran said.
Tufts' Hindus also try to engage the entire Tufts community to participate in holidays such as Diwali and Holi, the Hindu festival of color that welcomes the arrival of spring and celebrates the triumph of good over evil.
Hundreds of Jumbos hit the Res Quad every year to join in the celebration of Holi by throwing colored powder and water on each other.
"[Throwing powder] dissolves all barriers. It is this philosophy that has been woven into the festival," Shah said. "All our festivals have significance like that."
