'Masti' weekend attracts more than 400

Approximately 400 students from all over the Midwest traveled to IU for "Masti" weekend, an event that celebrates South Asian culture and means "fun" in Hindi. The Indian Student Association played host to Masti March 25-27. \n"It's the biggest Indian event compared to other colleges," said senior Rupal Patel. "I believe all colleges have their own type of Masti, but IU is the biggest because it reaches everyone, all communities and all kinds of Indians."\nThe ISA had more participants than expected this year.\n"We didn't think we were going to have so many participants," ISA president Meghna Mirchandani said. "Every year participation amount increases. Usually most participants are from the Midwest, but we even had people fly in from California."\nParticipants were able to meet people and make friends from IU and other universities.\n"I thought it was a great opportunity to meet new people and have a lot of fun, which is what Masti is all about," said senior Prateek Kamath.\nPatel agreed that Masti is a setting for expanding one's social network.\n"It's a really good way to meet people outside of IU," Patel said.\nMr. and Ms. Masti of 2005 were junior Akshay Kumar and junior Priya Patel. Ms. Masti was crowned and given flowers, and both received gift certificates.\n"We tried to make it very princess-like for Ms. Masti," Masti co-chair junior Tripti Singh said.\nThe judges chosen to critique the contestants were sought to be beneficial to the pageant. \n"We tried to find three impartial judges with background experience," Singh said.\nThe panel was comprised of Shobana Ram, a classical Indian dance teacher, Archana Thaker, a choreographer from Ardhana \nInstitute of Dance and Melyssa Ramos, Miss Teen Indiana 2002. \n"For each of the three rounds the judges looked for pose, posture and stage presence," ISA Vice President Rimi Gill said.\nPatel said it was formal with the judges, rehearsal practices and Masti coaches who planned the event.\nIn addition to the pageant, Masti featured several sporting events.The winner of the cricket tournament was the IU cricket club. Their reward was a cash prize of $350. Purdue took second place in the cricket tournament with a cash prize of $150.\nThe team named "5%" that consisted mostly of IU students came in first in the intercollegiate basketball tournament with a cash prize of $350. The team named "SWAT" of IUPUI finished in second place with a cash prize of $150. \nThe teams were able to show their creative side by inventing their own names. Some of the team names were "V8," "County Boys" and "The Underdogs."\n"We gave them the freedom to make up their own names, jerseys and posters," Singh said. "Participants got very creative when representing their schools."\nMasti also featured Holi, a Hindu spring festival, on Saturday. Participants were invited to Dunn Meadow to literally throw colors. The ISA purchased 30 pounds of colored powder to celebrate Holi. \n"Holi is to celebrate the vibrancy of life," Singh said. "You shower everyone with colors." \nLast year Masti featured comedian Russell Peters, while this year comedian Dan Nainan had a show.\n"He's a pretty big comedian," Mirchandani said. "He has been on 'Saturday Night Live.'"\nKamath said he thought the South Asian comedian was very funny and amusing.\n"The South Asian section of the pageant and meeting South Asian students from different regions of India increased participants' knowledge of South Asian culture," he said.\nMasti concluded with a "Farewell Brunch" Sunday.\n"The 'Farewell Brunch' gives participants the opportunity to exchange phone numbers and e-mails with each other," Gill said. "It's a time to relax, talk to the people you met and wind down the weekend." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Daria Kamalipour at dkamalip@indiana.edu.