Growing up in the Bay Area, actor Avantika —who starred in the 2024 Mean Girls reboot, and will appear in Mindy Kaling’s Not Suitable for Work next year—always remembers marking the month of October with a special celebration of Diwali . Otherwise known as the Festival of Lights, the Indian celebration triumphs light over darkness, and the good over evil. “Some of my earliest memories are of these big parties that my parents would throw,” Avantika tells Vogue . “We would cook a lot of food, light diyas, and play poker. I have a lot of sweet memories of falling asleep in the living room to the sound of everyone’s laughter—and waking up to people who had fallen asleep in their saris.”

Photo: Dani Case

Flash-forward to present day and the star, now based in New York City, has fo

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