Sangam Diaspora

By Tanisha Palvia

The spring Sangam elections of 2007 were distinct from past elections because Nitin Sekar and Jaymin Patel, both biology and environmental science majors, ran last minute against current president Prashant Katwa in order to make a statement. Sekar and Patel said they wanted to voice their concern with Sangam: there is a very clear difference between Sangam’s stated goals and its actual actions. In his election speech, Sekar laid out everything he thought was wrong with Sangam. Many felt attacked by the display, but others supported it.

At an interview this semester, Sekar said he feels that Sangam spends too much time on social activities and not enough time raising awareness about South Asian culture to the rest of the UNC campus. He said Sangam caters more to the Indian American population at UNC, and therefore does not accurately represent South Asia. Sekar and Patel chose to relay their opinions at the elections because so many Sangam members attend this event. However, at the end of his speech, Sekar withdrew his presidential bid. He said he was too busy to make the necessary changes himself, but he hoped the newly elected board would take heed of his message.

As the first few months of the semester have gone by, however, Sekar said he is skeptical about whether his thoughts were heard. “It seems that this year’s executive board has no intention of leaving any of the traditions Sangam has had for itself,” he said, advocating events such as inviting Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson to speak or holding a Bhutanese archery workshop as opposed to holding various social events.

This year, Sangam has put on events such as a Mahatma Gandhi Fellowship Dinner, two Meet and Greets, “Be the Change” Service Week, and Culture on the Lawn. Planning for Aaj Ka Dhamaka, Sangam’s annual dance competition to raise money for the Mahatma Gandhi Fellowship, is in the works.

Neil Patel, Vice-President of Sangam, said that Sangam is improving its ways. According to him, the new executive board is trying to reach out to other organizations on campus to help bring awareness to UNC about Sangam. In the past few months, Sangam has partnered with the Women’s Studies Program to fight domestic violence. They have also partnered with GLBTSA in the screening of Deepa Mehta’s Fire, a film about two Indian lesbian women. The board has created two new cabinet positions: an internal relations chair and an external relations chair. Both positions aim to help create an interaction between Sangam and the community. In “Be the Change” Service Week, which took place from October 1-6, Sangam raised $1,000 for the Mahatma Gandhi Fellowship.

Most important, said Patel, is the executive board’s dedication to educating themselves more about the political occurrences in South Asia. To make UNC more aware about South Asia, the board must also be aware, he said.

So is Sangam in fact improving? I guess we’ll leave it up to you to decide.

–Tanisha Palvia