Ana: Can you introduce Sanskriti and elaborate on how you've become known as one of the most inclusive cultural groups on campus? 

Prad: The Sanskriti society represents most of the South Asians in St. Andrews, which is a large body now, way bigger than what it was when we entered. I think it's about 400, 500 people. What we essentially host are cultural nights like Diwali and Holi, which are the two biggest festivals in the Hindu calendar. It's one event a semester, but these are landmark events, which everybody looks forward to. 

Vijay: Celebrating these events when we are so far away from our homes is so important and special for us. We want to come together and celebrate by wearing our cultural clothes and show that we are proud of our culture. The events have been way bigger than we expected. 

Charlotte: Indian culture is rich and diverse, with a multitude of traditions, values and beliefs. How do you introduce this to those new to the culture? 

Prad: I believe that the culture is pretty inclusive. Everyone associated with our events, whether they're ethnically Indian or not, have a great time simply because of what we offer and how welcoming our society is to everyone. We bring something unique to campus- from drummers in the club to colour fights.  

Charlotte: I agree, your events are so fun and everyone there always has a great time. We love your events and rarely miss them.  

Prad: It’s less about promoting our culture, and more about giving the South Asian community who would often get homesick on these significant holidays and festivals a chance to celebrate with each other. 

Ana: Celebrating festivals away from home can be challenging. How do you ensure traditional elements are preserved while also making these celebrations accessible? 

Vijay: We have to give credit to the Indian and Sikh societies, who we collaborate with. The day before every event, they would throw a small fair where you basically have access to Indian traditional goods. From decorations for women or some food for tasting. It’s a way for everyone to try and see local things and cuisines and feel like you’re at home. These two societies came up with this amazing idea, and it has really helped us incorporate more traditional elements into our events.  

Prad: Yes, they have such a great committee who were passionate enough to carry it forward. 

Ana: How does your committee decide which festivals to celebrate in St Andrews? 

Prad: So far, we have been putting our focus on the two largest festivals; Diwali and Holi. These are the two events we can count on to bring the hype and create a busy and anticipated event. As much as we would love to celebrate more festivals in the calendar, it has to be viable from a financial standpoint.  

Ana: Can you talk a bit about your most recent event, Holi? 

Prad: Re-creating it in St Andrews was no easy. It has never been done before with such grandeur, simply because there was no location for it. The timing of it in terms of weather is tricky. You never know when its going to rain, which it did this year as you guys know. 

Ana: I didn’t mind the rain! Everyone was having so much fun it didn’t matter. 

Prad: The lower college lawn was a huge upgrade for us regardless. Considering most of our events used to happen at either 601 or now at Main Bar, you would not have heard of Holi on a mass scale before this year. We’ve successfully managed to just about double our numbers in attendance as compared to previous years. 

Ana: Did the University help you at all? 

Vijay: We are a university funded society, so everything we do from ticketing to customer safety is operated through them. We are also non-profit.  

Ana: What about Diwali? 

Vijay: It’s the same kind of thing to Holi, but the celebrations take a different form- at Holi we have colours and at Diwali back home we have firecrackers. We don’t do the firecrackers here because of health and safety. But In India Diwali is essentially bursting firecrackers with your family, we pray and we wear nice colourful clothing and just have a great time all together.  

Ana: There are a lot of non-Hindus at your events. Do you ever have trouble navigating potential cultural appropriation? What are your views on this?  

Prad: Diwali and Holi are Hindu Festivals, but we see all South Asians and their friends at our events regardless of which religion they follow. You are free to drink or not, there is never any pressure, we want everyone to feel welcome, at home and to have a great time. Cultural appropriation has never been a pertaining issue at our events. We are super inclusive and we create a safe space. We do not get easily offended unless someone is going out of their way to generalise.  

Ana: Can you tell us how students can respectfully participate in these cultural events? 

Vijay: I think a lot of the time when people wear Indian traditional dress, they think they’re offending us. We don’t take this as an offense. We love that people who aren’t South Asian want to join and be a part of our culture. We always appreciate people making an effort to include themselves and get to know us and our culture; we will always welcome everyone with open arms. There is an Indian mentality in our culture of treating your guests better than you treat yourself. In Sanskrit we literally say, ‘the guest is God’. This is what we try to implement, making sure everyone we host is having the best possible time.  

“We always appreciate people making an effort to include themselves and get to know us and our culture; we will always welcome everyone with open arms."

Charlotte: The Sanskriti initiative to hold traditional clothing sales is a beautiful way to share Indian culture with the wider St Andrews community. Can you talk more about this? 

Prad: We hold these more as a precursor to the overall event. If somebody doesn’t have the necessary sort of accessories or clothes, even Indian people who have not carried it with them from home, have an opportunity to get some here. It was a great hit, thanks again to the Indian and Sikh societies, who put in their own money for this, not committee money. They ordered items from Asia, and they fronted the costs themselves, taking that risk that it may not sell and incur a loss.   

Charlotte: Did they sell? 

Prad: They sold out! It was a huge hit. They even deservedly made a profit from the fair. If I was asked to front my own money for a sale, I would be hesitant. But they took the risk and went that extra mile, and it paid off.  

Ana: Are there any challenges you have encountered so far in organising these events and how did you find a solution? 

Vijay: 601 closing was a problem, as most our events used to be held there. This year, the union has accommodated us by providing the main bar. This was tough to manage and make sure that it maintained the same vibe, but it’s a little more dispersed. It's not a concentrated area where a lot of people can gather. Also, the speakers aren’t loud enough. But we made it work- we had food and the 360 video booth which is always a fun way to document your night when you're all dancing. 

Ana: My next question is about funding, especially because you guys always include free stuff for everyone. 

Prad: You’re talking about the free shots? 

Ana: The shots! Everyone loves the free shots. How do you secure funding as a non-profit organisation? Do you face any challenges with ticket pricing and ensuring it’s accessible and not overpriced? 

Prad: We are fully university funded society. We have been around for 15/20 years now, so we have accumulated some money which allows us to offer the complimentary photo both and free shots and stuff like that. With regards to sensitive pricing, we try to keep it as low as possible.  

Charlotte: I know that you guys don’t use Fixr for your ticket sales, why is that? 

Prad: It was the decision of the 2023 committee to stop using Fixr. We now use the union website for ticket sales, and the university also advise us of pricing. The university pays the vendors through our society funds that they manage and keep track of ticket sales via the native website. 

Vijay: Also, the Fixr fee is another incentive to break away.  

Charlotte: So, the Sanskriti structure and involvement opportunities are obviously essential for its success. Could you talk a bit about how people like us and other students on campus can contribute or participate in the committee or in your overarching mission? 

Vijay: Every year we have an election for our committee, and everyone is free to apply, it’s open to everyone.  

Prad: So far, we've not had anybody who's non-ethnic Asian be part of committee. I feel as outgoing President, a non-South Asian would could give us an alternative perspective which would be a great addition to the team.  

Charlotte: You two are both fourth years and are graduating soon. Have you guys got many younger students on committee who you will pass the society on to?  

Prad: We have a lot of fresher reps who are always up for going out and having fun. As for who will be taking over as president, I have nominated Freya to take over from me. She is one of the members who fronted her own money for the goods that were being sold at the fair.  

Charlotte: She has clearly showed her commitment and dedication to the society. She sounds like a great incoming president.  

Vijay: Absolutely. She understands the society well.  

Charlotte: Let’s talk competition. How do you deal with the competition from other collectives and societies on campus? 

Prad: It’s great for us. It meant we have had to up our game and level up. Ensuring this year’s Bindi is the most elaborate and eventful that’s ever happened. We have been making sure our scheduling of events is perfect to maximise ticket sales and we continue to advertise free perks and include the live Dhol drums to overall better everyone’s experience. The drums became such a hit that we were approached by Kairo & Baja for their Afro-Caribbean music nights. We agreed to collaborate, and never before have Dhol drums been used for an event such as that and it ended up being a massive hit, to the extent that they will be at these events in the future.

Vijay: It’s also the first time we competed for a Bollywood night in St Andrews, but that only ended up benefiting us in the long run as we took our festivals from being an ethnic, small scale community event to one that has the talk of town.  

Charlotte: The quality of your events just gets better and better, and you are contributing to improving the nightlife in St Andrews. My last question is about looking forward. What do you guys envision for the future of your society?  

Vijay: We want to continue in the manner that we have. We want to maintain our relationship with the Indian and Sikh societies and making sure there is a smooth transition to the new president so that they can take Holi and our other events to the next level. 

Prad: We want to maintain our message and stay true to our mission to just keep throwing these super inclusive, welcoming and fun events in St Andrews.  

Charlotte: Your events are some of our favourites on campus, we are at every single one and we will continue to be! 

Ana: Thank you for talking with us, and we can’t wait for what Sanskriti has in store for us in the future.