Following the trails of blaring Bollywood music that reached us as we dug into our meals at the Marketplace, we were drawn to the East Forum where we saw the Navratri celebration, an event organized by one of the largest — in terms of scale and the impact they have — Student Interest Groups on campus, Tashan. Navaratri is a Hindu festival of great significance and marks the victory of good over evil. It is celebrated with great pomp and splendor in some South Asian countries, marked by nine nights that are filled with dancing and singing. The event organized by Tashan embodied the spirit of Navratri perfectly; as we looked around the room, we saw people celebrating, dancing their hearts out and having the time of their lives. But amidst the grandeur, what struck me was the homogeneity of the crowd that seemed to be celebrating the festival at the event.

Coming to a university far away from home, it is through nationality and culture based-SIGs that we are able to vicariously celebrate the festivals back home, and in some instances, maintain a connection with our homes. The importance of such student groups, then, cannot be denied on a campus that feels so alien and new when we first arrive. SIGs like Tashan provide a space for students to celebrate events they miss, but their significance on campus goes beyond organizing spaces for celebration. They are also in positions of great power because they decide which cultures are afforded space and support to be celebrated and which are not.

Region-based SIGs have the potential to create opportunities for students to celebrate their festivals on a larger, more unified scale while also exposing them to the events from other countries in their geographic proximity. Yet, Pakistan broke away from Tashan years ago and created the PSA. Nepal did the same and created the NSA last academic year and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are following in these footsteps. Why is that?

It is interesting to note that South Asian countries seem to be the most affected by this issue of fragmentation of region-based SIGs. Maybe it is the sheer number of South Asian students on campus, making it hard to have a common group for everyone, but I think the true reason lies deeper than that. Most South Asian states have had to suffer through great conflict and turmoil to gain independence from colonial powers and to establish nation-states with boundaries and sovereign governments. Many states were created in opposition to one another, like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, having sprouted dynamics that these states continue grappling with today. The fact that states had to fight for their right to legitimize their identities and culture and that this fight resulted in conflating a particular culture or religion with a nation-state has led to intergenerational trauma, and sometimes, mistrust and discomfort.

I believe NYU Abu Dhabi would be better off having region-based SIGs on campus rather than nationality-based SIGs for multiple reasons. The first consideration is a practical one: region-based SIGs make it possible for events to be organized on a larger scale by preventing the funneling of resources into many fragmented SIGs as opposed to a unified region-based SIG. An example can be seen in the celebration of Dashain that was held last week by the Nepali Students Association. Several members and organizers of the Dashain Tika Event expressed disappointment over the fact that they had to host their event on a smaller scale in the Baraha as opposed to the previous years in which Tashan organized an event for Dashain on a larger scale in the East Forum, a bigger venue. NSA also had stronger budget constraints because the Student Life budget was distributed between Tashan and NSA, making it harder for NSA to match the scale of the Dashain event organized in the previous years.

The second fact to consider is that region-based SIGs stand true to the spirit of NYUAD by enabling students from different countries to unite and celebrate each other’s cultures and festivals. In the previous years, when Tashan consisted of members from different countries in South Asia, students would learn about each other's cultures and traditions through the process of coming together and hosting festivals and events that were sometimes not their own. Hanging flags on the walls that are not yours, calling up your friends and asking them if they have jewelry for an event your country does not celebrate and socializing at restaurants that specialize in food you have never seen on the streets of your country is a unifying experience that nationality-based SIGs cannot emulate. SIGs based entirely on nationality reinforce group dynamics on campus that make it harder for students to try to reach out to those who do not share the same culture as them.

Nationality-based SIGs might also seek to perpetuate the same group dynamics in countries that students often want to escape. This is something that we can even see in the case of Tashan and their India-heavy focus. Tashan very rarely organizes events or festivals that are celebrated by minority groups in India; they have never celebrated Muslim festivals because it is often assumed that a SIG like the Pakistani Students Association will do it anyway. This is reflective of the current socio-political atmosphere prevalent in India and other South Asian countries that seeks to systematically oppress and remove minority groups from the political and social discourse.

Tashan also tokenizes identities by having representatives on their E-Board from different countries within South Asia, which can be argued is done to ensure equal representation in discussions within and from Tashan. But a question arises: if there is a Sri Lankan and a Nepali and a Bangladeshi representative on the E-Board, why is there no Indian representative? This is indicative of a larger problem — the regional hegemony India occupies in the South Asian region. By virtue of its size, location and economic potential, coupled with great aspirations to become a global superpower, India is emerging as a hegemon in South Asia, the dynamics of which are unfortunately reflected at NYUAD. Particularly in a diverse setting like NYUAD, being brown is often attributed to being Indian. Even globally, media portrayal of South Asian culture begins and ends with India. This often alienates students from different South Asian countries, making them feel like their identity is not valid or important in discussions. SIGs like Tashan make it hard for students to seek solace in them by perpetuating the same dynamics students have faced in their home countries.

This splintering away of certain groups indicates that there is a problem with representation in region-based SIGs. However, through trends noticed in region-based SIGs in the past, there needs to be a cognizant effort made to make all countries feel equally represented in the group and prevent the stronghold of one country or one group of people within the group. There is a lot to be gained from unpacking our shared history and trauma together as a region and sitting through whatever discomfort arises — yet how do we do that when we are splintered by nation? This problem is not unique to region-based SIGs; even when nationality-based SIGs break away from larger groups to form their own collectives, they must be cognizant of who they represent in their SIG and they must contend with their own hegemonic factors. There needs to be proactive action taken towards creating an atmosphere of inclusivity, because, after all, festivals are only fun if we celebrate them with everyone.