In a mixture of explosive movements, somber moments and a dash of Indian humor, the Indian Student Association (ISA) attempted to revive their organization Saturday.
Called "Revival," the show was a reflection of some of the troubles that the association has had over the past year, including low participation and low publicity, ISA cultural chair Purvesh Jhaveri (sophomore-business administration) said.
The night was a fusion of dances, skits, singing and even an impersonation of the on-stage dance scene from Napoleon Dynamite. The show, which played to an audience of about 100 people in Eisenhower Auditorium, began with the American and Indian national anthems and quickly moved to high-energy introductions by the emcees, Jon Yenser (sophomore-business management) and Neil Devani (sophomore-premedicine).
Although the crowd was unresponsive at first, the emcees managed to involve audience members into the show by calling for the audience's support of the acts.
The first act was a battle between the tabla and dhol, two traditional forms of Indian percussion instruments.
The crowd erupted in cheers when Seetal Erramilli (sophomore-bioengineering) and Sukhwant Garcha (senior-industrial engineering) played their instruments with intense speed.
A dance act that combined elements of traditional Indian dance and the Bollywood style borrowed from India's movie market was performed by a two-woman dancing group called the Madrasi Princesses.
Humorous skits were performed by the emcees between acts. One skit described warning signs of "Facebook Dependency Syndrome," with symptoms like poking, stalking and having "an uncanny ability to remember people's birthdays."
The night slowed to a more somber pace when members of Delta Sigma Iota fraternity presented a slideshow they made about the tsunami that struck South Asia last December.
"As a South Asian-based fraternity ... we thought of something to honor the victims," Delta Sigma Iota member Umang Patel (sophomore-life sciences) said.
The slide show included images from the devastated countries and the relief efforts that followed. After the show, the previously rowdy crowd was completely silent.
To re-energize the crowd, the slideshow was followed by a fashion show and two more dance acts. The last act, performed by the Penn State Bhangra Team, prompted the entire auditorium to erupt in shouts and cheers.
The two-fold purpose of the night, according to the ISA board members, was to promote Indian culture and revitalize the ISA. "We're slowly making changes ... we're hoping people come out, hoping it sparks an interest [in Indian culture]," said ISA treasurer Mehir Patel (senior-economics).
