WA’s South Asian Student Association (SASA) will be hosting the school’s first-ever Darba, a Diwali and garba party, on Monday, Nov. 7 from 6 to 9 p.m in the cafeteria. The event will be Glow-in-the-Dark themed, and snacks and drinks will be provided with the general admission ticket. Students of all grades, teachers, and parents are invited to come, and attendees are encouraged to wear bright, colorful clothing or South Asian outfits. Tickets, which are currently on sale, are $15 for WPS students and $20 for everyone else. The money can be paid to SASA’s Venmo account, @wasasa, to SASA adviser English teacher Rashmi Kumar in room 261, or to SASA members at lunch.

Darba is a portmanteau of the words Diwali and garba. Diwali, a primarily Indian and Hindu festival, took place on Oct. 24 this year. Garba is a type of dance from the Indian subcontinent. To celebrate both of these aspects, Darba will have traditional Diwali-themed activities of music, dance, socializing, and food.

Besides garba, the event will include an open Bollywood dance floor and possibly games like carrom, an Indian billiards-like checkers game, will be played. While the event may sound similar to last year’s Chaat Masala, which was organized by Human Rights Club, Darba will be different and distinct in that it is specifically holiday-themed, and therefore will be structured a little differently.

Darba is one of many holidays SASA hopes to celebrate in the coming school years. Ultimately, SASA is a new club, and though it has already participated in one event at the International Block Party on Oct. 16, it is still starting to get up and running. Despite the fact that the club is still in its early stages, that will not stop it from planning more fundraisers and events and expanding its reach to spread awareness about South Asia and all of the cultures and traditions of the region.

“We are thinking about celebrating some other holidays [in the future] as well,” Kumar said. “We also want to celebrate holidays from other South Asian cultures, not just Indian and Hindu [ones].”

According to Kumar, it is SASA’s cabinet members who make SASA’s goals and events possible. As included in the club’s mission statement, the club’s goals are to make all WA members feel welcome and to cultivate a new sense of belonging, as well as to unite South Asian and non-South Asian students. Darba is just the first step to these goals.

“Darba is an opportunity for us to spread cultural awareness about a particular holiday, [so] we certainly want everybody to come,” Kumar said.

For questions, SASA can be reached at @westfordacademysasa on both Instagram and Facebook. To join Google Classroom, the code is t3jtbyn. Meetings will take place every Wednesday until Darba, after which the club will meet every other Wednesday. Kumar encourages students to join the Classroom and follow SASA on social media even if they cannot make it to all meetings.