As the clock approaches 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, the streets outside the Fruit, a Durham nightclub, lay mostly quiet. Inside, though, a haze of smoke clings to the air, lit by swirling, hypnotizing lights that dance across the exposed brick walls of the warehouse-turned-nightclub. It’s Diwali Night and even though the room isn’t yet packed, there is a palpable sense of festivity.
Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is a five-day festival celebrated by millions across the globe, primarily in India and other South Asian countries. The name derives from the Sanskrit word “dipavali,” or “row of lights.” The main day falls on November 1 this year, and in parts of India, clay oil lamps called diyas are lit and towns decorated to invite the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, into the home.
The celebration, which varies by region, religion, and familial tradition, usually includes fireworks, worship ceremonies, and feasts to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.
At The Fruit tonight, Durham’s Indian community reclaims the night in its own way, blending tradition with modernity in a space pulsing with Bollywood beats and electronic dance music.
Beeninder Singh, a software engineer by day and DJ Bennii by night, stands behind his turntables on stage, orchestrating the night’s fusion of Eastern and Western rhythms. The floor in front of him fills as small groups of friends reunite, greeting one another with warm embraces and wide smiles.
“It’s like a remembrance of home and the light festivals we grew up with,” says Isha Dagdu, a local consultant, as she adjusts the edge of her silky dress.
The VIP section stands isolated from the general crowd on one side of the room. The cluster of men, friends of DJ Bennii who paid extra for an elevated experience, remains a mystery as they quietly observe the festivities from behind the rope.
Raj Kaur, the party’s organizer and the wife of DJ Bennii, sits perched gracefully at the entrance in a striking red sparkly dress, greeting those who enter. She works as a product manager at a tech company, but on nights like these, she and her husband transform into the driving force behind community events.
“It’s hard to find venues in downtown, like in the Raleigh area,” Kaur said. “So, having a Bollywood night right in the heart of downtown, right on the street where everyone, like regular people, can go. It’s like, ‘This is us. We’re also making space for each other.’”
Young professionals from Cary and Morrisville make their way onto the dance floor. They wear a mix of Indo-Western and Western outfits — jeans or two-piece skirt sets and cocktail dresses stitched from multicolored bright Indian fabric — innovative spins on traditional pieces curated by Indian fashion designers.
DJ Bennii switches tracks, seamlessly blending “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,” a Hindi love song from a romantic musical, with a thumping Western house beat. The remix fills the room with energy, drawing more people onto the floor. The crowd sways, twirls, and dances in dizzying circles, their movements synced to the fusion of Bollywood and EDM that echoes off the walls.
Behind the DJ booth, a giant LED screen flashes a kaleidoscope of colors, synchronized with the throbbing bass. Every beat feels like a pulse, lighting up the room, and turning The Fruit into a sensory overload of sound and light.
At the bar, bartenders pour unique cocktails named after the night — “Humpty Sharma,” “Diwali Punch” and “Bollywood Dancing” — as friends gather nearby on the couches to converse over the pounding music.
The fusion of traditional Bollywood notes and techno music creates an electric power in the air, as the dance floor fills with dozens of people — those lucky enough to secure a ticket before they sold out. By day they are doctors, engineers or IT specialists in Research Triangle Park. But here they are simply revelers.
The spirit of Diwali Night comes to life as “Dil Dooba” transitions to an EDM bass drop — reflecting a blend of old and new, East and West. It is a space where cultures collide and converge.
As the night falls away, beams of purple and yellow ricochet off the disco ball onto the faces of those still dancing — light eclipsing the dark.
Pictured above: Colored beams of light splash across the walls of the Fruit in celebration of Diwali Night. Photos by Valentina Garbelotto — The 9th Street Journal
