The holidays are here: Diwali, a winter festival on the Hindu calendar, takes place this week.

“Diwali is our Christmas and New Year,” said Karan Desai (’15), who is Hindu and will be celebrating Diwali.

Diwali marks the beginning of the new year and “the whole point of Diwali is to get rid of all evils,” Desai said. Though it is finals week at Urban, Desai will be excused on Wednesday to observe part of the Diwali celebration with his family.

The Urban policy concerning holidays is that the school will “allow any student, faculty, or staff member to miss school in order to observe a religious holiday without it counting as an absence or personal day,” according to the Urban Guidebook.

Diwali will kick off the start of winter holidays. Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and many others are soon to come.