by Maria James ’24
Published 10 Nov. 2022
It’s hard to pass through the halls without seeing brightly colored flyers plastered on every corner with the words ‘MHS SENSASIAN’ written on them. For the first time in the high school’s history, MHS welcomes a new indo-western dance and theater club, SENSASIAN, which aims to highlight and strengthen South Asian culture and beauty. With both clever advertising on their Instagram page, as well as a strong group of club members from all grades, this new club has already made a name for itself in its first year.
Over the past couple of years, the South Asian population in Montgomery has continued to flourish and has formed a community in our township. SENSASIAN not only wants to strengthen that sense of community but hopes to include people of all backgrounds to immerse themselves in something that may be new to them. Inspired by North Brunswick and South Brunswick High School’s Innovasian and Temptasian, three juniors – Gowri Bajagur, Milan Bhatt, and Saanvi Challuri – founded the club to put their own twist on the shows they have watched over the years. “Sensasian is a culmination of different dance styles,” Challuri says. “We wanted to take into account both Indian and Western dance styles such as Hip Hop, and mix it with both American and Indian music to show a fusion of both cultures.”
On Friday, October 14th, the club is hosting its first event of the year, Garba X Bollywood Night, from 6-10 pm. In less than three weeks, they are already sold out, and are looking forward to an entertaining night. As a club that started from scratch, there are many gifts as well as challenges that come along with hosting such a large event. “It’s been hard and stressful at times, especially because we don’t have all the rules and regulations written out. There’s no template to it, but we are so incredibly lucky to have such a good team and board to help us work through it together,” Challuri states.
As they build towards their big show at the end of the year, the club hopes they can get as many people involved as possible, no matter their ethnic background. From their first couple of meetings alone, they have accumulated almost 100 people to join the club – in part to the strong community at MHS, as well as their beloved advisor, Mr. Bulusu.
Other board members such as Mathi Veerachamy (‘24), Rhea Vishnuvajhala (‘24), Maria James (‘24), Maya Nair (‘23), and Jiya Patel (‘23), are all excited to ensure the success of the club both this year and in the future. With a devoted team of both South Asians and people of other backgrounds who are excited to participate, SENSASIAN has a bright future ahead of itself.
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