Amador is home to students of different cultural backgrounds. To unite everyone and make them feel included, Amador offers many different clubs. The Indian Culture Club (ICC) helps students learn more about Indian culture through clothing, food, and other fun activities.

“[We] started Indian Culture Club because [we] wanted to see more Indian representation in our school that goes beyond singing and dancing. While those parts of Indian culture are also amazing, I wanted to bring a more holistic view to Indian culture and create a community where everyone hopefully learns something new every meeting, Indian or not. Also, since there was a KCC and Middle Eastern Club, why not add an Indian Culture Club as well?” said ICC Co-President Eva Raul (23’)

Creating ICC

Seeing a lack of representation, Raul teamed up with Bhavya Yanamandra (’23) last semester to turn the idea of ICC into a reality. In addition to spreading awareness of India’s cultures, the club also wants to focus on current events that are often overlooked.

“We wanted cultural appreciation. We wanted to create a place to make everyone feel like they belong. Amador’s population is half Asian and a significant proportion of that percentage is Indian. Though there is the Bollywood and Bhangra club that does a great job of representing Indian culture, not everyone is a dancer, so we are hoping to showcase various topics. [One of the issues] We could talk about is childhood marriages and pressing matters like that,” said Co-President Bhavya Yanamandra (‘23) 

The club tries to engage the audience with interactive quizzes like Kahoot and Quizlet live. These activities help gauge members’ understanding while also helping them learn new material.

“We usually start with a 10-15 minute presentation on the topic for that day’s meeting, such as fashion across the separate regions or the nuances of the Bollywood industry. We end with a Kahoot about the information on the slides so that the members are incentivized to pay attention and have fun learning. Our most recent meeting was on Holi this week, so brought in mandala art coloring pages and art supplies so the members can draw as they listened to our presentations,” said Raul.

An inclusive environment

The Indian Culture Club has many plans to expand its horizon in the future. Whether it be through collaboration or schoolwide events, the club is ready to do it all. 

“We are also looking forward to collaborating with existing clubs, so another really prevalent Indian club is the Bollywood and Bhangra club. We want to collaborate with them to maximize Indian culture by bringing the artistic aspects, and informational aspects together. We can make it so that the Indian community feels appreciated. We want to collaborate with other clubs that offer service hours so that our members can get that in the future,” said Yanamandra.

Even though there are no requirements for the club, members enjoy bringing parts of their culture to share at meetings. Whether it be through food, fashion, or traditions, ICC creates a safe space for the South Asian student body. 

“I don’t have an official position or anything, but I genuinely love seeing people’s reactions to the food I bring to ICC. When I was young, I used to be bullied for bringing Indian food to school but nowadays, I can bring it and share it with everyone as well” said Devika Subramaniam (‘23).