Being so far away from home, many times it is festivals like Diwali which connects you back with your roots and creates the home away from home atmosphere out here in the US. My experience being part of various Diwali programmes in Maryland University in the last few years have been no different — I cherish those wonderful memories.

 In fact as a university student you would experience that the entire festive season starts pretty much with the onset of Fall semester — typically around end of August or early September.

Diwali is sort of the culmination of this Fall festive season. The fact that it starts getting cold by November and that the homework and exam pressure would have mounted, only slightly reduces the Diwali festive mood. In fact, at the University of Maryland, both the Hindu Students’ Council (HSC) and the SCI (Student Council of India — organisation for the grad students who mainly come from India) have their own Diwali celebrations (a few years before both the groups came together and had a single big event). These events also become an opportunity to explain a thing or other about Hinduism and Indian culture to a curious non-Indian.
In fact, at these events you would typically find many non-Indians, some may be fascinated by Hindu-festivals, some simply love the Indian food. In addition to the weekday event on campus, many friends’ circles hold their own get togethers and Pujas in someone's apartments.

In addition to these, there are also various community and temple events. In fact, a noteworthy event in Maryland is the Diwali