ISA has been at IU since the 1970s and serves to help Indian students connect to their culture.
Though no date has been set for these events and they are still in the planning stages, ISA members said they are hoping these two events will hit the level of success that Diwali did.
Diwali is one of ISA’s annual events to celebrate the Indian New Year, and it just so happens to be their largest and most successful event to date.
“It’s one of the most fun events that ISA is involved with,” sophomore Sushuma Yarlagadda said. “It has all different ways of interacting with the show, with the dinner and the dance floor afterwards that everybody loves.”
Yarlagadda is the ISA’s culture chair and one of 14 board members, which means she was highly involved in the planning and execution of the event. In fact, she performed as a dancer.
Held in November in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Alumni Hall, the Diwali event was so popular that tickets quickly sold out.
“We had to cap it at around 450, and we had to turn around 150 people away,” senior and ISA President Serena Patel said.
This year, one of ISA’s missions is to increase their philanthropy. The Diwali event was held in support of the nonprofit Sankara Eye Foundation.
“They provide free eye surgeries for the impoverished people in India,” Patel said. “Anything eye-related is their mission and so we’re just supporting them.”
At the end of Diwali, ISA had raised around $2,700 for Sankara, said Public Relations Chair Roshni Dhoot.
Dhoot said her favorite event is an annual event for ISA that showcases a specific type of Indian dance called Garba-Raas.
“Usually there are two (Garba events) each weekend in major cities in the month of October,” Dhoot said. “I get to see everyone and I love the style of dance, and the music is very upbeat. You walk away so sore but it’s very fun.”
As for Patel, her favorite event is something much smaller than the performances and dancing showcased in Diwali and Garba.
“I always get very excited for our initial call-out meeting because it’s before any of the freshmen really know what’s going on, and it’s exciting to see them excited,” Patel said.
Along with reaching out to freshman, the ISA has been trying to expand their reach beyond just IU undergraduates who are Indian.
“ISA has just done a really great job of expanding and improving, not just this year but since it’s began,” Yarlagadda said. “We’ve reached out to a lot of grad students and faculty and non-Indian populations as well.”
The outreach has expanded the organization, particularly in the last ?couple of years.
The ISA has moved away from formal membership. Along with getting names from their call-out meeting, they have started to collect the names and email addresses of people who attend their events and like their Facebook page.
“ISA has grown exponentially in the last few years,” Dhoot said. “We used to be very ... not small, but we definitely didn’t have as much recognition. I definitely think we’re one of the biggest cultural organizations on campus.”
Even with all the events ISA puts on, the three students said the main reason they became part of ISA is because it has helped them to remain connected to their culture.
“I’ve always been strongly connected to my culture, but I definitely think ISA helps me stay that way,” Yarlagadda said. “It’s really easy to kind of lose that part of your life, so it’s a great way to keep that going in our lives.”
