Brenna Patrick

Staff Writer

New cultural awareness is the goal of this year’s Indian Night, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 2. Tickets are $6 for ISU students, $7 for faculty and staff and $9 for the public. They can be purchased in the Rendezvous and PSUB from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Food plays a major role in the Indian culture, and will be a notable part of the event sponsored by the Association of Indian Students, known as AIS.

“It’s a great equalizer. You can share no matter where you’re from.  When you sit down and you share the same food you share the same experiences,” said Anish Sebastian, the club’s adviser.

The five main dishes the club will serve are Indian traditional meals. These are: butter chicken; matar paneer; jeera rice, also known as cumin rice; chickpeas and tomato chutney. Roohafza, a popular Indian dessert-style beverage, will also be served.

Club President Gaurav Kaushik will prepare one of his favorite dishes, matar paneer, which is peas and cottage cheese. He is excited to see Indian Night attendees try his food.

“Food is important because it has the ability to bring people together,” Kaushik said, mentioning that the food will be spicy and flavorful.

“There is a variety of food, so every year we get students from different parts of the country, which is great so you can keep changing the cuisine every year and keep coming up with new things,” said Sebastian.

Indian Night will be held a day before one of India’s major festivals, the Festival of Light. This inspired the event’s theme of “Sparkling.”

“In India, we have fireworks and every house lights candles,” Kaushik said.

The club’s vice-president, Jashan Ghotra, is in charge of coordinating and choreographing performances.

“India has so much to offer, and not everyone is aware of it,” she said.

Henna tattoo artists will be available to do art on the skin of interested event-goers.