Personal Story
I was introduced to Indian culture at a very young age. I still remember the crazy little dances I used to do to Bollywood songs while I was growing up (until the age of 5) and how I used to be such a star at every single family event. I was never actually introduced to dancing at a young age, though. My mother used to dance kathak when she was a girl but did not continue, and my father never did any type of dancing. As such, my life was mainly academics and I connected with Indian culture primarily through pop culture. It was not until I was almost conned into joining a dance performance for Diwali, one of India’s biggest festivals/celebrations, my freshman year of high school. At first, I took it as a complete joke. I did not want to go to the “practices” we had, and when I did, I really just took it as a time to spend time with friends and not care about dancing. As it got closer to the actual event, I just mindlessly learned the choreography. It was evident that everyone else in the group was much more passionate about what they were doing than I was. The day of the performance arrived, and I finally understood what I was doing. Although this was not a professional performance or some version of classical Indian dance, this was a performance that we had created in celebration of an important religious festival. Stepping on stage was completely nerve-wracking, but I knew the “cute” performance we had put together meant so much to not only the people in my group, but the people there for the celebration. So I went out there and gave it my all, and from that moment realized that dancing was an important way to more seriously connect with my culture than any other alternative I had practiced.
I continued doing dances like these for the remainder of high school. Although they were not the most technically correct nor well put together dances, they were still an interesting way for me to connect with my culture. My friends and I would choreograph and perform at Diwali events at temples, galas, and Hum Night, an Indian cultural night put on by high schoolers to promote Indian culture throughout the community. While most of these performances were of a Bollywood-fusion type of dancing, I also dabbled in garba and raas.
Coming to college, I was unsure about whether I should join one of the three Indian dance teams on campus. I enjoyed dancing as it was a good way to stay involved in the Indian community but was conflicted because I wanted to focus on my academics on my way to medical school. I attended the workshops for IU HooSher Bhangra because the captain of the team was my friend’s sister. Having been a dancer on the team for the past two years, I can say auditioning and joining the team was an amazing decision as it not only helped me relate to my Punjabi culture, it gave me a strong identity on campus. It has been my first time learning a true dance style, that, too, a folk dance style that has so much meaning and history behind it. Through it, I feel like I have gained much more insight on my culture than I would have if I had never been tricked into dancing six years ago.