Activities

The India Ki Khoj program included 5 activities:

Introduction to India Ki Khoj
Bollywood Dance and Lecture Demonstration
Stand Up Comedy Show: Second Sex and More
Indian Classical Music Traditions Lecture Demonstration
Odissi Classical and Folk Dance Performances

Introduction to India Ki Khoj was run by Mona G. Mehta and Jaison Manjaly. As the first activity of the program, the main objective was to allow the Caltech and IIT students to get to know each other. First, each Caltech student was paired with an IIT student. These pairs then spent 5-10 minutes learning facts about each other, such as our hometowns, college majors, favorite sports, political affiliations (in the case of my pair), and hobbies. I was partnered with Pratyush, an IIT sophomore undergraduate. Each pair then introduced their partner to the group, sharing some of the facts they had learned in the previous discussion.

An IITGN student and Caltech student introducing each other to the group

Bollywood Dance and Lecture Demonstration was run by Malavika Subramaniyam. Most of this session was in lecture format, as Subramaniyam gave descriptions of different styles of Bollywood dance followed by a video clip shown as an example. The students were them split into three groups, given props, and told to make their own Bollywood dance in under 15 minutes. Lastly, these impromptu dances were performed to the other two groups.

Stand Up Comedy Show: Second Sex and More was run by Mahila Manch, a stand-up comedy group based in Ahmedabad. 4 members came to perform, with each focusing on political issues of most importance to them. Given the current protests in India over the CAA amendment, which aims to allow those of certain neighboring countries to become Indian citizens provided that they are not muslim, the performances were particularly charged and emotional.

A member of Mahila Manch giving his stand-up routine

Indian Classical Music Traditions Lecture Demonstration was run by Srinivas Reddy, a professor at IITGN and Brown University. Dr. Reddy lectured about Classical Indian music for the first 15 minutes and performed for the remaining portion of the session. Reddy played the Sitar and was accompanied by an IITGN professor and student, who both played the two headed drum. Dr. Reddy began playing and the drummers joined in a few minutes later, alternating so that only one drummer was playing at any given time. The performers allowed for any audience members who wished to to try playing the instruments.

Srinivas Reddy (middle) performing with IITGN professor (left) and student (right)

Odissi Classical and Folk Dance Performances was run by P Sudha and Troupe, an Ahmedabad dance group. The group performed five pieces total, with three being by the primary group and two by a younger sister group. Each piece told a story relating to the Hindu religion and images were in the background to accompany this storytelling.

A member of P Sudha and Troupe performing