A melting pot of culture

Highly Informative

M S Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce recently held a combined celebration of ‘Communal Harmony Day’ and ‘International Students’ Day’, which was their own version of ‘Ethnic Day’.  The event kicked off with a power-point presentation by students on the culture and heritage of the different states of India. 

There were folk dances from each of the regions that the students hailed from, while the fashion show displayed the ethnic attire and represented the pride of each state. The crowd was enthralled to watch the dances and cheered on their friends as they walked down the ramp. 

Most attendees would agree that the highlight of the day was the Gorkha medley performance by students who are members of the community. “In order to represent the culture of the Gorkhas of North Bengal and Sikkim, we presented five folk songs of celebration and love in a medley along with a slide show depicting the culture of the region,” informs Rohit Banerjee, a second-year BA student. 

“We wanted to remember those Gorkhas who have sacrificed their lives for the country. At first, we were nervous to perform them in a place so far away from home. But then, we saw that our friends actually wanted to know about the culture and the catchy tunes made everyone dance,” he adds.  Yet another commemoration that took place that day was for 2013 being the ‘International Year for Water Cooperation’, as declared by the UN General Assembly. Other than activities and discussions on the topic among the students, the staff members were also dressed in blue to show their solidarity and support.

“Our ethnic day was really good this year because it was not just a showcase of cultures but one that was informative too. It was a good attempt to raise awareness about the challenges of water management in the City and nation as a whole. There need to be more discussions on water allocations and access to the resource,” notes Sneha V, a final-year genetics student.
A slogan-writing competition on water cooperation turned out to be a big hit, more so since the best one was awarded. The international students of the college also presented a fashion show depicting the cultures of their own countries and prizes were given to the best dressed among them.