of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At The Fruit tonight, Durham\u2019s Indian community reclaims the night in its own way, blending tradition with modernity in a space pulsing with Bollywood beats and electronic dance music.<\/span><\/p>\nBeeninder Singh, a software engineer by day and DJ Bennii by night, stands behind his turntables on stage, orchestrating the night\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s like a remembrance of home and the light festivals we grew up with,\u201d says Isha Dagdu, a local consultant, as she adjusts the edge of her silky dress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe 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,\u00a0 remains a mystery as they quietly observe the festivities from behind the rope.<\/span><\/p>\nRaj 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.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to find venues in downtown, like in the Raleigh area,\u201d Kaur said. \u201cSo, having a Bollywood night right in the heart of downtown, right on the street where everyone, like regular people, can go. It\u2019s like, \u2018This is us. We\u2019re also making space for each other.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nYoung professionals from Cary and Morrisville make their way onto the dance floor. They wear a mix of Indo-Western and Western outfits \u2014 jeans or two-piece skirt sets and cocktail dresses stitched from multicolored bright Indian fabric \u2014 innovative spins on traditional pieces curated by Indian fashion designers.<\/span><\/p>\nDJ Bennii switches tracks, seamlessly blending \u201cAe Dil Hai Mushkil,\u201d 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.<\/span><\/p>\nBehind 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.<\/span><\/p>\nAt the bar, bartenders pour unique cocktails named after the night \u2014 \u201cHumpty Sharma,\u201d \u201cDiwali Punch\u201d and \u201cBollywood Dancing\u201d \u2014 as friends gather nearby on the couches to converse over the pounding music.<\/span><\/p>\nThe fusion of traditional Bollywood notes and techno music creates an electric power in the air, as the dance floor fills with dozens of people \u2014 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe spirit of Diwali Night comes to life as \u201cDil Dooba\u201d transitions to an EDM bass drop \u2014 reflecting a blend of old and new, East and West. It is a space where cultures collide and converge.<\/span><\/p>\nAs the night falls away, beams of purple and yellow ricochet off the disco ball onto the faces of those still dancing \u2014\u00a0 light eclipsing the dark.<\/span><\/p>\nPictured above: Colored beams of light splash across the walls of the Fruit in celebration of Diwali Night. Photos by Valentina Garbelotto \u2014 The 9th Street Journal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":14053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[269],"class_list":["post-14050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-moment-in-durham","tag-the-9th-street-journal","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Durham Moment: Diwali Night, 'a remembrance of home' - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n