Cultural Space Feature: The South Asian Society
Colby College’s Pugh Center serves as a multicultural hub on campus, and it is a place where international students and people of color can feel safe to meet students with similar backgrounds and plan and partake in important cultural practices.
The South Asian Society (SAS) is one club among many Pugh Center clubs that serves as a space for South Asian students on campus to come together and talk about their experiences as a South Asian student at Colby, a predominantly white institution (PWI). SAS organizes many events throughout the year, some meant solely for club members such as club dinners and Chai & Chill, as well as bigger events open to the entire school, including Diwali and Holi, which are the Hindu festivals of light and springtime, respectively.
As a junior at the College, Ananya Pani `23 has taken on the role of SAS club president.
“I think SAS serves as a place for me to explore and embrace my South Asian roots and meet other South Asian kids…I don’t even view it as a club, I view it as a family,” she said.
A first-year international student — who would like to remain anonymous — joined SAS this year. He expressed similar sentiments towards the club when it comes to the events.
“Diwali was probably the social event that had the most impact on my social life at Colby because I met a lot of brown kids there and some of them I’m best friends with now,” he said.
He also spoke about the growing number of South Asian students this year with the incoming freshman class, which is more than the College has seen in previous years. Within the South Asian community itself, there are differences in background and upbringing that lead to different reactions upon entering a PWI such as Colby.
“I didn’t really have much of a culture shock, mostly because we had [pre-orientation] for international kids which… really helped because it was just international kids hanging out for a week without anybody else… we didn’t have to deal with rich white kids,” the anonymous student said.
For many international students, having the opportunity to meet fellow international students before getting thrown into a different cultural atmosphere proves helpful, and having the Pugh community throughout the year helps maintain that environment.
In an interview with The Colby Echo, former SAS president Serena Desai ‘22 spoke about her experience of coming from a town with a larger Asian population.
“I actually didn’t identify myself as a person of color before I came to Colby… because there were just more people of color in my neighborhood, there wasn’t a need to differentiate yourself or consider yourself a minority. And then you come here, and it’s like… sometimes I just feel like there are so few of us,” she said.
SAS provides a community for those struggling with their identity as a person of color and provides them the opportunity to meet students with similar identities.
Because of the low numbers of South Asian kids in previous years, the club meetings and events were not always well-attended, and the community was not always as strong as it is now.
“When I first got here, basically no one attended our meetings… we had certain little events, we had Bollywood karaoke night, we had the miniature version of Diwali and Holi, but it was nothing like it ended up becoming when the new board came on because we just had the manpower to do bigger things,” Desai said. “We were able to get t-shirts, we were able to get performers, speakers… it has just grown and grown, and I think our presence on campus has become more known.”
The SAS board estimates that over 150 people attended their Diwali celebration in the fall of 2021. The board is currently undertaking planning for Holi, the festival of springtime and color.
“Our plans are to do our usual celebration, which includes South Asian foods specifically. Hopefully we have good weather… we’re going to do the celebration of Holi which involves the throwing of colored powder, and it’s just supposed to be a very happy festival because it’s also the festival of love,” Pani said. “And, we’re gonna play Bollywood music… South Asian events flourish when there are a lot of people…we try to encourage everyone to come out.”
The board is planning for a crowd of about 150 to 200 people and hopes that people will come for the color event in addition to the food. SAS encourages everyone, South Asian or otherwise, to join them for their Holi celebration on Apr. 2nd from 1 to 4 pm to enjoy color, music, and food, as well as to celebrate the incoming of spring.
~ Mahika Gupta '23
