By Sahana Jayaraman

For a community that lacks traditional spaces to connect, dance competitions have taken on new meaning.

Indian-Americans attending the University of Maryland have no cultural center to call their own. At best, they have a sparse greek life presence and a few scattered clubs acting as spaces for congregation.

What they do have is bhangra, and the Maryland Mauj.

Bhangra is an energetic folk dance style that originated in Punjab, India. It’s a festive art form, characterized by its brightly colored, glittering Vardiyaan costumes and a thundering Dhol drum.

Bhangra was born to celebrate the Indian harvest season. Now, it provides an opportunity for Indian-American students to celebrate their heritage through dance competitions akin to the Mauj.

Shika Inala, Liaison for the Maryland Mauj organization, indicated community involvement was one of the bigger reasons she decided to help out with the competition.

“Apart from [dance] competitions, I feel like there [aren’t] that many places where Indian-Americans really do congregate and meet,” Inala said. “For most people, having…competitions fills that void.”

Despite not being a bhangra dancer herself, the freshman neurobiology and physiology major finds joy in watching her peers practice the traditional art form.

“It’s nice to see all these other people who are like me still participating in these old dance forms and seeing their passion for it and spreading their culture and taking pride in it,” Inala said.

This year’s Mauj took place on March 30 and saw teams from cities as close as Washington D.C. and as far as Detroit congregating in the Stamp Student Union’s Hoff Theater.

They had a big turnout—almost all of the theater’s 550 seats were filled—and Maryland students weren’t the only ones in attendance.

The event’s hosts referred to the competition as a “family gathering,” and it certainly felt like one. Attendees could be heard corralling their children, introducing their dates to their families and even facetiming relatives who couldn’t attend.

Akanksha Ray, captain of Duke University’s bhangra team Duke Dhamaka, finds dance to be her primary way of participating in the greater Indian community.

“I think [competitions like Maryland Mauj] are such a great way of connecting Indian-Americans all over the country,” Ray said. “Bhangra as a dance is a very community-minded thing…It kind of unifies [Indian-Americans] because it’s a way of staying connected to our Indian culture.”

Much like Inala, Ray finds that there aren’t many spaces outside of dance competitions for the Indian community to come together on her campus.

“I would definitely say dance has been my primary way of connecting with other Indians on campus,” Ray said. “Apart from that….there’s not as much Indian-focused programming [at Duke].”

The majority of those watching Saturday’s event were of Indian descent, a fact neither Inala nor Ray failed to notice.

“It would be cool if we could get more students who aren’t Indian-American to come to these events and take part in them, or even join the dance teams,” Inala said. “It’s nice to see diversity in [bhangra]…and to share [its] culture.

However, both women acknowledged the event successfully provided a conduit for Indian-American students to do the one thing they aren’t often able to do away from home: spend time around people who look like them.

“Just getting to meet people that our team hadn’t before, [Maryland Mauj] was a great experience overall,” Ray said. “There were definitely a lot of conversations and opportunities for budding friendships.”