A Knight for Indian Culture: North Penn holds 13th annual Republic Night
TOWAMENCIN — North Penn High School is not new to Indian culture as the Indian Cultural Association (ICA) held their annual North Penn Garba earlier on in the year. This time around, ICA hosted the Republic Night for the 13th year.
Republic Night is a very “liberal” event in the literal sense of the word because the event extracts Indian culture through many different activities. Dance performances from North Penn students, little kids known as the “Moksha’s,” students from the collegiate level, solo and duet singing performances, a fashion show, and the event wraps up with the crowning of a Mr. and Ms. Rep Knight.
“We want people to be involved in our culture and to embrace it just like we do, and to help make that happen, we have Republic Night. To make this night happen, our cabinet which includes eight officer members including me, all have different responsibilities we take. Our Secretary Aneri Amin will take care of meetings, our Event Chairs Shubh Patel and Vansh Patel will take care of social media, our Historians Diya Patel and Shree Patel will take care of poster making, our Vice President Kavita Kute and I will take care of big picture things and lastly, our treasurer Esha Nakodkar takes care of the money,” said Indian Cultural Association President Nidhi Patel.
Leading up to the event, ICA holds all possible dance routines to mandatory practices. More specifically, three hours after school every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for three weeks, resulting in twenty-seven hours of practice coming into the event.
To get the event started, members of the North Penn High School Chamber singers sang the American National Anthem, followed by the singing of the Indian National Anthem by Sahana Prasad. Soon after, the event quickly got into the gist of Indian Culture with two dance routines from the “Silver Steppers” and then the “Disco Deewane.”
After the introduction of the Officers of ICA, the night’s most memorable performances were given by the Moksha’s, groups of little kids all dancing together, making it seem as professional as possible.
Trusha Patel and Shible Chowdhury then took the stage to tackle a singing performance together. Soon after that, the contestants for Mr. and Ms. Rep Knight were introduced.
This year’s Mr. Rep Knight candidates were Jay Vora, Jay Vya, Jay Kamani, Om Savaliya, Om Patel, Ved Patel, Dev Patel, Vasu Patel, Jimmy Patel, and Shible Chowdhury.
The Ms. Rep Knight candidates were Aarya Patel, Nupur Raval, Sahana Prasad, Misha Chandarana, Melleny Shajahan, Bhavi Trivedy, Isha Bhatt, Mansi Patel, and Trusha Patel.
The candidates then broke out into a single dance choreography that had the whole crowd livened up with their enthusiasm.
“Being able to participate in Indian Culture at the high school means everything to me. I love my country and culture and I want to express that in every way possible. My culture represents my identity and I think participating in Rep Night is the best way to express my love for [Indian culture],” said Mr. Rep Knight Candidate Om Savaliya.
Rep Night then took a pause with an intermission that gave the audience the opportunity to get some food for the rest of the evening. The latter end of the night was filled with many more dance choreographies, singing performances, and the crowning of Mr. and Ms. Rep Knight.
This year’s winner of Mr. Rep Knight was Jimmy Patel, and his partner, Ms. Rep Knight, was Isha Bhatt.
The night concluded with the annual performance from the Broad Street Badshah’s, a dance group from Drexel University, followed by the “Officers Dance” and the closing remarks.
Republic Night allows students the opportunity to express their love for Indian culture. It’s a night full of joy and enthusiasm that unconsciously sparks the inner Indian culture out of many Indian students here at North Penn High School.