South Asian students gathered this month to celebrate and reflect on their heritage across five weeks of programming for GW’s 10th annual South Asian Heritage Celebration with 13 cultural events.

Leaders from four student organizations – the GW South Asian Society, the Pakistani Students’ Association, the Indian Students’ Association and the Hindu Student Association – kicked off this year’s monthlong celebration, titled “Pushing Perfection,” March 1, and events will culminate Saturday with a “Bhangra Blowout” dance celebration in Lisner Auditorium. They said the series of events aimed to highlight the pressures, standards and stereotypes of perfection that family or society sets for the South Asian community and address them through community discussions and spaces for students to unwind, like a student-led yoga class and a self-care night.

Ashvini Selvanayagam, a sophomore and SAHC co-chair, said as a first-generation American she faced a “silent pressure” of making her family proud after immigrating to the United States. She said she has identified with the stories of other South Asian students who have shared their own experiences with overcoming ideals of perfection through conversations that SAHC hosted.

She said SAHC organizers worked with the South Asian Mental Health Initiative & Network, a nonprofit that works to improve the mental health of South Asian individuals in the United States, to promote mental health services and resources to students throughout the month’s celebrations.

“Emotionally, we’ve always felt like we’re supposed to express that we’re content with everything, that we can handle everything we chew and that everything will be alright,” Selvanayagam said.

Selvanayagam said the March 1 event kicking off the celebration, a self-care night titled “Masala and Chill,” focused on individual well-being using traditional South Asian remedies known as Ayurvedic practices, which are native Indian methods of self-care like yoga and herbal remedies.

“I felt so happy in that moment because there were just so many faces both familiar and unfamiliar,” Selvanayagam said. “Everybody was talking, and I think one thing that I said was ‘Use this as an opportunity to meet people that you don’t normally hang out with.’”

Selvanayagam said she’s also looking forward to the heavily anticipated Bhangra Blowout celebration held in Lisner Saturday, which is the oldest collegiate Bhangra competition in the United States. She said the competition attracts spectators and dancers from schools across the country, and she hopes the event can also attract non-South Asian students to enjoy the celebration and learn more about the traditional cultural dance.

“People not in any South Asian org have the opportunity to join or also liaison for other teams,” Selvanayagam said.

Ashna Patel, a sophomore and SAHC co-chair, said students participated in traditional Indian self-care practices at the event, like Amla hair oiling, turmeric face masks and Besan hand scrub as they connected with other students over their shared heritage. Patel said another event SAHC hosted Wednesday in Duquès Hall, “Trivia Night,” was a success in unifying participants around South Asian culture with an intimate group of 35 attendees and trivia categories ranging from South Asia and history to pop culture and current events.

She said through the SAHC programming, she wants to give all students, both within the South Asian community and beyond, a chance to learn more about South Asian culture and celebrate with them through the month’s events.

“What’s been amazing about this month especially is that with the celebration, it really gives us a platform to all grow together,” Patel said.

Patel said SAHC welcomed reality TV personality Aparna Shewakramani from the Netflix original show “Indian Matchmaking” as the celebration’s keynote speaker. Shewakramani is a former attorney and best-selling author of “She’s Unlikeable: And Other Lies That Bring Women Down.”

Patel said Shewakramani was relatable to the month’s theme of overcoming societal pressures after she received backlash from viewers on her dating show for being too “picky” or “close-minded” with her romantic decisions concerning her castmates.

“As a person, she’s an incredible human being who’s been amazing,” Selvanayagam said. “But we want everyone else to kind of see that perspective of her and also maybe, hopefully change some opinions about her.”

Shewakramani spoke to about 75 attendees in the Jack Morton Auditorium Saturday about the difficulties she faced on set, saying she was frustrated watching herself on the show for the first time because she didn’t recognize herself or the story the reality program was telling about her. 

Shewakramani said her definition of success is picking a profession that resonates with her personally instead of one that fulfills family or societal expectations of becoming a lawyer, doctor or engineer. She said following a 10-year law career as an attorney and general counsel, she is pursuing what she’s passionate about, like writing books, screenplays, a docu-series and a show. 

“If we can tell our stories in our workplaces, in our bubbles, they matter,” Shewakramani said. “I would advise everyone to do it even when you feel you’re not reaching people.”

Dhavni Modi, a sophomore and the co-president of the HSA, said the student organization hosted their annual Holi event Friday in Square 80, which is a five-day celebration to honor the beginning of spring, and about 150 people came to throw colored powder, a traditional celebration of the holiday.

“Basically it kind of celebrates the oncoming of spring,” Modi said. “Light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and that’s why we throw colors to celebrate all the flowers blooming and the colors of spring coming.”

Modi said HSA hosted a panel for SAHC March 8, titled “Hinduism Across the Diaspora,” with Ashwini Tambe, the director of GW’s Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, where she discussed with more than 30 students in the University Student Center amphitheater how Hinduism is practiced around the world. Modi said this year’s SAHC has reached more students this year than in previous years with more exposure and attendance due to increased advertisement from the SAHC Instagram account and South Asian student organizations.

SAHC upped its social media presence this year with an Instagram account dedicated to posts about schedules for the events, programming promotions and updates on the month’s celebrations to keep followers engaged in the SAHC festivities.

“I hope that students kind of take away a feeling of belonging as well as just more appreciation for their culture,” Modi said.