By Aanisah Husain 

The University of Maryland’s South Asian community is connecting once again, after a long one-and-a-half years of online school.

“Online sucks. Even though we’d have events where we’d meet people, it didn’t really feel like you were meeting them,” said Sofia Bhalwani, the co-president of the Pakistani Student Association. “You were just meeting their online persona.”

Some students — like sophomore bioengineering major Aditi Thangavelu — didn’t even attend online events.

“I didn’t see the point,” Thangavelu said. “I thought it was kind of odd and I found it really difficult to make other friends.”

The Pakistani Student Association and other South Asian organizations came into the fall semester with a common goal: Giving the freshman and sophomores an experience that they could not get through a computer screen. 

The biggest event so far this semester was Desi Homecoming, also known as Chaand Sitaray. Desi refers to people who come from the Pakistan, India and Bangladesh area. 

The Pakistani Student Association hosted the event on Oct. 15, allowing around 300 students to enjoy Desi food, dance to Desi music and watch performances from South Asian organizations like Maryland Dhoom, Anokha and Bhangra. 

“We knew we would sell out because it was the first South Asian event that was huge. After COVID, it was great to see everyone together, to see everyone’s ethnic clothing,” Bhalwani said.

“Being in-person makes everything so much better. Genuine connections are able to be made, we’re able to network with more people and everyone’s just happier.”

The Pakistani Student Association invited other South Asian Organizations like the Indian Student Association, Bangladeshi Student Association, Nepali Student Association, Moksha, Maryland Dhoom and Anokha to participate.

“We wanted the whole community there, so we can just create those bonds that we felt were kind of weak during COVID but definitely became strong [now] that we’re in-person.”

Sophomore Asad Raheem said it allowed him to reconnect with his community.

“I felt like this [was] the opportunity to loosen up and make new friends and network,” Raheem said.

Won Song, a sophomore education major, said Desi Homecoming was exciting for him because he could connect with people outside his East Asian community.

“It was very exciting to meet so many people unlike me,” Song said.

Thangavelu was excited to interact with a community of people with similar ethnic backgrounds as her.

“There’s definitely a sense of community here that is hard to get at other places,” Thangavelu said. “[It was] just a good time to relax after midterms [so] it’s always fun to have other people to hang out with.”

With the semester now in full swing, the organizations are gaining momentum. New members are joining in droves and the organizations are able to collaborate with other organizations. 

And it’s not just the South Asian community that’s coming together.

“I feel like all the Asian and Middle Eastern communities are coming together,” Bhalwani said. 

Bhalwani hopes to strengthen the growing bonds. 

“We’re going to keep dolling out those events, strengthen our community and hopefully everyone has fun.”

Featured image: Sofia Bhalwani, left, and Ilhaam Lakhani, right, embrace. Photo courtesy of Sofia Bhalwani.