Omkar Tamhankar: Bhangra Boy

Omkar Tamhankar

Omkar Bhangra

Name: Omkar Tamhankar

Year: Senior

Major: Neuroscience

Hometown: Carmel, IN

Dance History: swing, bollywood, raas, bhangra

Current captain of HooSher Bhangra, Omkar Tamhankar is a passionate dancer of Indian heritage. Omkar derives his identity from both classic American culture as well as Indian culture. Coming to college and getting involved in IU’s Indian community pushed him to explore his Indian culture, especially beyond his Maharashtrian roots. In mentioning how the subcontinent itself is multicultural, Omkar was able to emphasize the role of bhangra in introducing him to punjabi culture. To him, the bhangra circuit allows for a large amount of flexibility since the circuit has “allowed people to do whatever they want as long as certain aspects such as the outfits and respect for the culture stay.” He loves that bhangra allows him to tailor the dance to what he enjoys, although he believes in India, people tend to appreciate the more traditional aspects of dance forms. This fluidity in traditionality is even exemplified by the American bhangra circuit. According to Omkar, “if you go to a competition on the West Coast, it tends to be very flexible since it’s more modern and contemporary. If you compare that to other competitions, it’ll be similar to something you go to in India where they expect live singing and someone playing a dhol.” One of his favorite examples of mixing in modernity is how their routine from last year included the IU pride song titled “This Is IU.” Omkar feels that while he is part of HooSher Bhangra he has an obligation to make it a family and to create a strong culture. For him, bhangra is not only a means to connect to his culture but is also something he is “obsessed with.” He believes “it’s always good to have an obsession outside of school and career.” It differentiates him and his team from other IU students in the following way: “Come Friday or Saturday night everyone could be out at parties or hanging out with friends but we are at practice for 4 hours. We are slaving away trying to practice, trying to get better and to improve. [Practice] is where I want to be before anywhere else.”