There’s no place like Tamasha, Inc.—it treats its hirees well, encourages diversity, and works not on Wall Street, but on Taal Street. On Saturday, a whirlwind force of energy exuded by an eclectic mix of enthusiastic performers swept the stage in Roone Arledge Auditorium. Comprised of more than 800 members, Columbia’s largest South Asian organization, Club Zamana, along with several co-sponsoring groups, hosted its annual cultural showcase, Tamasha, Inc., equipped with a corporate spin that delivered a ten-act extravaganza well-deserving of its motto, “We takin’ over.”
As the primary event of the year for Club Zamana, Tamasha serves as “an effort to promote South Asian culture,” said Club Zamana’s president Sanjay Aneja, SEAS ’09. “This year, specifically, we started planning a lot earlier.” Thanks to extensive fundraising, Club Zamana was able to lower its ticket price to one-third of its previous amount while still adding several new elements to the program. With the addition of free Indian cuisine, T-shirts, door prizes, raffle give-aways—including a portable DVD player, four iPod nanos, and a Blackberry smartphone, courtesy of corporate sponsor CloudTrade—as well as a variety of debut performing groups. “This year’s show is just bigger and better,” Aneja said.
With the New York skyline sprawled across the background of the stage, the event showcased well-choreographed freshmen and senior segments as well as a special performance from the Rutgers Asian A cappella Group (RAAG). For the first time in Tamasha history, Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs also performed, resulting in a standing ovation for the effort taken to represent graduate students.
Another Tamasha debut performance featured ORISHA, Columbia’s Pan-African dance troupe. Their energetic presence portended an increase in the number of non-South Asian groups at Tamasha in coming years.
As the newest addition to the stage, Columbia’s Bollywood dance group, Dhoom, performed their own creative version of a Bollywood romance. “I love dancing, so I’m happy to get back up there, to feel the energy, and to have a great time with music,” said Dhoom performer Christian Pina, CC ’08.
Columbia Taal, a South Asian fusion dance team, took the stage with a their own imaginative twist on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, allowing the performers not only to showcase their dancing capabilities but also to share their acting talent. “This was by far the best Tamasha in my four years here,” said Columbia Taal’s senior advisor, Giti Dadlani, BC ’08.
The audience welcomed the award-winning Columbia Bhangra, a Punjabi folk dance team, as they performed the most show-stopping routine of the night. Another crowd favorite, Columbia Raas, showcased Gujarati garba and raas dance, turning their segment into a competitive chess match that showcased elaborate stunts.
“One of our biggest goals this year has been to bring in people who are not just South Asian,” said Club Zamana’s treasurer Varun Gulati, SEAS ’10. “You are only accomplishing the mission of promoting awareness of the club when you are bringing in people who were formerly oblivious to what South Asian culture is and you are showing them this isour culture, this is our community, and this is what we do.”
The much-anticipated finale act featured Nivla & P. Oberoi, whose claim to fame includes ranking in the top three finalists in the 2008 Doritos Crash the Superbowl contest. At the end of the show, when the performers and audience members broke into a huge dance party, Nivla said to the crowd, “This is the craziest college I’ve ever performed for.”