Celebrating Diwali With Her New CBU Family: Meet Charvi Gambhir

This Thursday, November 4, marks the beginning of Diwali, India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. While CBU celebrated virtually last year due to COVID-19, the campus community is excited to come together for several smaller in-person celebrations this year, including a Diwali dance show, fashion show, diya decorating and Henna. 

At CBU, we recognize the importance of taking the time to celebrate special occasions with our students, including Charvi Gambhir. Charvi is from Delhi, India, and is currently in her first year in the Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Business Management program. Charvi says the diverse student population and engaging faculty are some of the main reasons she chose CBU, with the Island’s beauty and calmness calling to her as well. 

“For those not familiar with Diwali, it is a festival of light which focuses on embracing the light within yourself and not feeling afraid to show it,” Charvi explains. “My mom always told me that I am unique and nobody can take that away from me. That’s what Diwali is all about for me, embracing who I am and owning it.” 

One of the biggest reasons Charvi loves Diwali is the opportunity to hang out with long lost friends and family while meeting new friends as the celebrations are held. “I’m excited for Diwali celebrations in-person again because of the food, dancing, jewellery, Henna, dressing up and taking lots of pictures,” says Charvi. “Diwali is such a lively festival that even if you don’t know how to dance, your feet will move to the music automatically!” 

Although last year’s celebrations looked a little different than usual, Charvi says nothing can compare to how she celebrated in 2020.

“Last year we all dressed up in our finest clothes at home since we couldn’t celebrate Diwali the way we wanted to,” Charvi shares. “Instead, we did the same rituals and decided to donate the money we would have used to buy firecrackers to a community organization that was supplying free food baskets to families that were hit hard by COVID-19.” 

For Charvi, while it’s a little emotional to be away from her family at home, she is so happy she found her new CBU family here in Canada and looks forward to celebrating Diwali with them. 

“Life is too short and unpredictable to think twice about the decisions we make, so live your life and feel free to make mistakes,” says Charvi. “Listen to your heart and live your best life when you’re here at CBU, because once you go Orange, there is no turning back!”