Food, song, dance spice up Indian celebration
The Utsav event Saturday night showcased
India's cultural wealth and extensive diversity
BY MORIAH BALINGIT
NEWS REPORTER
Mark T\vain once said: “In religion
and culture, India is the only million
aire! There is only one India! ”
On Saturday night, Students of the
Indian Subcontinent got the chance to
showcase the subcontinent’s cultural
assets with Utsav, a celebration that
featured song, dance, stand-up come
dy and, of course, Indian cuisine.
“There’s not many events in the
Northwest like this,” stage manager
Taimur Khan said.
Sophomore Jessica Nair, the pro
gram director, said Utsav was a chance
to educate people about various as
pects of Indian culture.
“We do it to give them a taste of
our entertainment, clothing and
food,” she said.
The program treated the approxi
mately 350 attendees to masala,
chicken curry, and naan, an Indian
flatbread. For dessert SIS served gu
lab janum, balls of cooked flour in
syrup. After dinner, performers of all
ages highlighted the diversity of Indi
an culture for an audience that filled
the EMU Ballroom. The event also
drew students from Portland State
University and community members
from Portland.
Graduate student Ishwinder Kaur
said the two-hour performance barely
scratched the surface of India’s culture.
“This is nothing compared to the di
versity of India,” she said. “There’s not
enough representation of the whole of
India in Eugene.”
The show featured dances and per
formances from different parts of In
dia. Bhangra, a folk dance from Pun
jab, and the Bharatnatyam, a temple
dance from South India, were among
the performances.
Bollywood, India’s immensely pop
ular film industry, influenced many of
the dances. And although it was collo
quially named for its counterpart in
southern California, Bollywood pro
duces far more films per year.
“It’s bigger than Hollywood,” Kaur
said. “And I guess it’s a culture in it’s
own right.”
Nair said in Bollywood films much
of the story is told through song lyrics
and dance.
“The music is kind of telling a story
and we act it out through the dance,”
she said.
Other dances fused the East with
the West. In one dance, four perform
ers danced in long traditional linen
shirts and pants before changing into
black slacks and white ties to segue
into a dance set to a Bhangra singer’s
adaptation of Usher’s “Yeah.”
Portland State University student
Vishal Jhaveri, who performed in the
dance, said a whole business has
spawned from infusing American pop
songs with Indian lyrics.
“It’s an industry in its own,” he said.
Two emcees polished off the
evening with a bevy of jokes, which
drew mixed responses from the
crowd. However, a cue card that said
“laughter” signaled the audience
when necessary.
The performance concluded with a
fashion show that displayed the vi
brant spectrum of the traditional
wardrobe. Women wore long silk tu
nics and scarves in rich oranges, pur
ples and greens, many adorned with
sequins and rhinestones.
Jhaveri said the performances are
often joint efforts with SIS students
from a core community in Portland.
“We’re all community members and
we usually perform,” he said.
Nair said performers from outside
the University helped put on the show
because the University’s population of
Indian students is not that large.
Junior Simon Saleem, one of the
show’s coordinators, said one of the
purposes of Utsav was to help dispel
stereotypes.
“Indians are portrayed as having
that deep accent like Apu, from the
Simpsons,” he said. “This basically
showcases the beauty of the culture.”
moriahbalingit@ daily emerald, com
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