University Star

In India, it can be considered bad manners to refuse food. You’re expected to have your fill. You should finish your plate, otherwise you may be thought inconsiderate.

Now, I’ve yet to go to India (a problem I’m trying to correct), but Saturday was the first time I’ve experienced Diwali, and the remarkable cuisine seemed to have stuck with most of the uninitiated. I certainly didn’t run into any problems as my hosts at the Indian Students Association saw to it that I went back for seconds.

During a break between the colorful and physically demanding dances — ranging from traditional Kuchipundi acts, expatriate songs and syncretic, techno-laced Bollywood pop — audience members were asked to share what they liked about India. One visitor said he enjoyed the food. This was received with laughs. Yes, the food is very good.

However, I don’t want to dwell on it too much and neglect other features. I should say that being raised in Dallas, which has a sizable and growing Indian population, my first experience with the culture was through food. The family of a childhood friend, British citizens, knew the local desi bazaars, of which I was completely ignorant. I learned the taste is substantial, but best served as an introduction — once satisfied we can move on to more important matters.

I think the Diwali festival represents one of humanity’s finest contributions to tolerance and pluralism. The members of the association are very diverse in their own group (and among the most committed and hardest working people I’ve met) and I noticed several different religious confessions among the participants.

This is natural and to be expected, of course. India as a country is one of the most diverse in the world: for languages, religions, ethnicity and so forth. It contains the third largest population of declared Muslims. This fact should serve as an example for our own country, the United States, as it seeks to coexist with an often-skeptical “Muslim world.”

Respect for varying traditions within a social-democratic system essentially defines India’s government.

India’s “political, economic and literary echelons speak English better than most of us do,” Christopher Hitchens wrote in a Dec. 1 article on Slate. We should be proud of hosting some of its brightest examples, and should call for increased support (material and otherwise) for the ISA. This way more students from the subcontinent can come here to study at Texas State.

These are some very talented people, and the amount of work many of these friends put upon themselves to host such festivals while working and studying for graduate degrees makes me embarrassed for myself and my compatriots. I’m utterly shiftless in comparison.

Several weeks ago I went to The Square with several chums, some of whom were involved with our local Diwali. I was impressed by their momentum to make the most of the free night. After returning to one of their homes early in the morning, all of us very hungry (and temporarily but thoroughly unable to operate machinery), my friends took to rummaging through the refrigerator. Out came several gruesome looking Jack in the Box hamburgers.

I couldn’t accept. These burgers were already in pretty poor condition, and I wasn’t sure my gastric fortitude could handle further pressure.

“Eat!” my friend demanded, pushing the burger at me. My resolve to avoid such unpleasantness was breaking down.

“Eat!” another friend badgered. I accepted the thing, closed my eyes and inhaled it. Eating was better for me than not, and the hospitality that ensures a guest will never go home on an empty stomach shall never be forgetten.

— Robert Beckhusen is a pre-mass communication sophomore