The lights in Jesse Auditorium dimmed as the audience hushed in anticipation of the spectacle about to begin. The curtain
rose, and the stage glowed from the bright lights.
The audience watched in amazement as dancers with colorful costumes jingled and jangled across the stages. Melodies flowed from singers’ mouths with beautiful intervals distinct to only one culture: India.
The 20th annual India Nite had begun.
“It was fun,” junior Earl Simmons said. “It was unique. I’d never seen most of the dances, and that was really impressive.”
The Cultural Association of India, a program organized to showcase ethnic talents at the University of Missouri—Columbia, sponsors the program.
Community members of all ages participate: some singing traditional Indian songs, some dancing with choreographed blends of traditional and modern moves and some emceeing and entertaining the crowd with cheesy jokes.
Sophomore Trisha Chaudhary has participated in India Nite for the past five years, dancing with friends to old and contemporary Indian music. While in past years she learned the dance from someone else, this year she helped choreograph it, along with juniors Ipsa Chaudhary and Sumidha Katti.
The three started practicing with their group, juniors Aniqa Rahman and Julia Schaller and senior Shivangi Singh, in September — practicing two to four hours a week. For some the dance was just as easy as deciding and learning the steps, but for Schaller, the choreography brought more of a challenge.
“I haven’t had much experience with Indian dances,” Schaller said, “so it’s hard to get some of the moves, like having to put your hands in a certain way.”
Rahman also found the distinct Indian dance style challenging; her Bengali background greatly differed from the Indian culture.
“I’ve never done anything like it before,” Rahman said. “It’s hard getting the body movements for me.”
While some are new to the festivities, some have participated for many years. For the past 11 years, special education teacher Punam Sethi has contributed to the event.
“I like the making [of India Nite] part. We’re all mothers. We get to hang out with one another” because of the dance, Sethi said. The mothers “decide the costumes. The music part, sometimes if it’s a medley, we chop the music. [The performance] just goes through so many steps and so many phases.”
The Sethi family got involved with India Nite as soon as they moved to Columbia. Sethi’s daughter, Anmol, started participating in the event when she was three.
Punam loves the evening, but she has noticed the event’s focus shift from the traditional Indian culture to a Bollywood style, a film industry in India.
Bollywood “is more popular, so everyone likes to get the music from the movies,” Sethi said.
While Trisha has also noticed the change, she still believes the traditional acts come to life on stage, including her own dance which is a blend of both modern and traditional music.
“I know my friend’s parents are doing something,” Chaudhary said, “so [India Nite] overall is a pretty good reflection [of Indian culture] because it shows the modern age but also the older generation.
Representing one’s culture is challenging, and the dancers feel that pressure before they perform. Before each performance Chaudhary’s stomach gets jittery.
Even with years of experience on the auditorium stage building her confidence, the rush she gets never seems to fade.
“Right before you go on and the curtains are opening and you hear the crowd cheering, it feels  kind of like you’re going up a roller coaster ride, and you’re chugging to the top, and you’re right at the top of the hill, and right when you fall you get that [same] feeling in your stomach,” Chaudhary said. “There’s butterflies, and you’re really anxious. You’re really nervous that you’re going to forget the stuff, and the crowd’s cheering really loud[ly], and the lights are really bright. It’s kind of surreal, the feeling, like it’s not really happening.”
Chaudhary is excited to continue the tradition, but she does not know what her future in the India Nite festivities will hold since her group consists only of older girls.
“I’m the only sophomore,” Chaudhary said. “Next year they’ll all be seniors [and therefore super busy] or going to college, so I’ve got the make the best of it.”
By Maddie Magrudor