What was once halfway around the world, is now within feet here at DHS. Juniors Amishi Singla and Suresh Venkataraman came together to create the South Asian Cultures Club.
Last summer Venkataraman approached Singla to bring up the club as a possible idea. Singla thought it was a great idea, and with some hard work it officially started up in November 2023.
The creation of the Chinese Culture Club was what sparked Venkataraman’s interest in drawing more awareness to different cultures.
“Asia is very diverse, so there should be more representation for the different areas within it,” Singla stated.
The club meets every other day 3 in Mrs. McKenzie’s room. While Singla and Venkataraman were looking for a club advisor, they visited Mrs. Wilson for her input.
“Mrs. Wilson recommended Mrs. McKenzie to us.” Singla explained.
The main mission of this club is to provide and explain a thorough understanding of the cultural aspects of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The club wants to serve as a community for those all interested.
Singla believes that his club is having an impact on the students.
“We have a little community that can talk about things,” stated Singla.
Each club is run differently. They do a multitude of different activities, each relating to a different one of the countries’ cultures.
Singla and Venkataraman have many exciting activities they are already thinking of for the upcoming clubs. They have also already completed many enjoyable activities.
“Some of the activities we have done include learning how to play carrom, celebrating different holidays such as Diwali, eating food, and dancing,” Singla exclaimed.
Singla’s favorite part about this club is getting to see people experience a different culture for the first time. She related it to seeing a movie that you’ve already seen, but getting to see the reaction of others while they see it for the first time.
Each and every club is run a bit differently, and feedback is encouraged. There are so many different possible activities they could do, and they like to change it up.
“We have a meeting about what we are going to do and ask members what they would like to see,” Singla stated.
The biggest focus of improvement currently is getting more members. Anyone can join and they encourage people to come if they are part of any of the cultures listed or not.
Senior Emerson Dunkerley has joined recently and loved it.
“I would tell other people thinking about joining to just do it, even if they aren’t a part of a South Asian culture because it’s a good learning experience and it’s tons of fun,” stated Dunkerley
She has enjoyed experiencing the different cultures and learning more about them, even though she didn’t join as a part of one of them.
“My favorite part about the club is getting to see and learn about different cultures that a lot of my friends are a part of,” explained Dunkerley.
More and more opportunities are constantly being implemented here at DHS, and ideas we at one time couldn’t grasp are within reach.
