Indian Student Association raises cultural awareness through Flash mob
Bollywood style music and dancing erupted in front of the University Center Monday morning as a result of a flash mob put on by the Indian Student Association. In an effort to raise cultural awareness about the group and its activities, members took to dancing to traditional Indian folk music with their own flair.
Vice President of the Indian Student Association, Santosh Kotha, stated that the flash mob was the result of wanting to make the group’s presence known around campus.
“With the flash mob, we wanted to (make aware) our Indian Student Association, as well as our up and coming events,” Kotha said. “We are the biggest (student) association at CMU with more than 200 members but not that many know about us. That’s why we want to raise awareness.”
One such even includes the ISA’s Diwali celebration on the 16th. The event will be housed in the Rotunda from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
“The (Diwali) event provides an opportunity for the students to share Indian music, dancing and a taste of authentic Indian cuisine with members of CMU and the greater Mount Pleasant community,” reads the ISA’s cmich page.
Kotha believes that the flash mob was a success, though could have been even bigger had the group managed to secure larger speakers for broadcasting their music.
“We didn’t get enough permission for the bigger speakers, so we had to work with the small speakers,” he said. “We did not grab the audience (enough) without the big speakers.”
Still, that did not deter participants and onlookers from enjoying the festivities.
Graduate Student Krishna Pavan, though not a part of the Indian Student Association himself, took time out of his schedule to learn the dance over the course of a week. He said that although not all of the members involved had a background in dance, the association welcomed all that were willing to participate.
“This was an ‘everybody can do it,’ type of thing,” Pavan said. “(We taught) basic moves of Indian style (dance).”
When asked about future flash mobs or awareness events, Pavan said that the idea was a possibility, but that the right speakers and locations would have to be secured, stating: “We want to do a bigger flash mob in the future, but we have to get the right permission from the UC.”
