Diwali flash dance mob welcomes start of Hindu holiday

Window shoppers, Sunday morning brunchers, and kids still in their soccer game uniforms stopped on the sidewalk outside Inkwood Books, the independent bookseller in downtown Haddonfield, as Indian music started to come from a portable speaker.

Suddenly, a flash mob was dancing on Kings Highway to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.

The idea started with Aparna Sarin, a physician who lives in Haddonfield. She says she began by asking her neighbors, “Would you do this with me?” They immediately replied with an enthusiastic, yes. “And before I know it, those five people introduced me to five more.”

Then she got her Haddonfield physician moms Facebook group and the Haddonfield Anti-Racism Coalition involved. They didn’t want it all over social media because “then it loses its surprise. It’s not a performance, it’s a flash mob.”

Sarin enlisted a fellow doctor, Shafinaz Akhter to help, and she, in turn, got her 15-year-old daughter, Mimi Lewbart, who teaches at the (Bollywood fusion) Mokshaa Dance Academy in Cherry Hill, to choreograph the dance moves.

“I won’t say she dumbed it down,” Akhter said, but she simplified the steps so “even the dads could do it.” The performance lasted about five minutes.

Over the centuries, Diwali has become a festival that’s also enjoyed by Sikhs and Jains, and even Buddhists. It is celebrated not just in India, but alsoin Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries with South Asian diasporas.

CNN reported this week that more and more major brands are recognizing the Festival of Lights, running ad campaigns and stocking products related to the holiday in the US. South Asian Americans who celebrate Diwali can now pick up fireworks from Costco, greeting cards from Hallmark, and party decorations from Target.