Empty trays of brownies and Chipotle bags sit strewn on the tables of a business school classroom. Twenty students struggle to be heard over one another. One argues that “MMX marks the spot” is too vague. Others say “project X” only brings neon raves and binge drinking to mind. Beneath the endless stream of opinions, the Maryland Masti board carves out a theme for Masti X, this university’s 10th annual Garba/Raas Indian dance competition.
Garba is a popular folk dance native to the state of Gujarat in Western India, according to the Masti site. Raas is a faster-paced dance that is often associated with Garba.
Sophomores Radhika Patel and Chadni Patel are this year’s directors. They’ll be responsible for getting eight dance teams to this university, putting them up in hotels, and producing the two-hour show that sells out the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s largest theater every year. It’s no wonder the Masti board first meets in April to begin planning for the January event.
“Right now, because it’s brand-new, [we’re] getting into the fit of things. It seems overwhelming … but I think we’ve been doing pretty well,” Radhika said.
But Patel, a public health science major, and Chadni, an economics, physiology and neurobiology major, won’t have to work alone. There are three directors’ assistants to help them pick up loose ends.
There is also the registration chair, who’s responsible for the applications of other university dance teams; a technical chair to create graphics, fliers and transition videos for the show; and a public-relations chair to promote Masti on social media. In addition, a hospitality chair organizes the transportation and lodging of all the teams and a mixer chair plans a welcome event for when they arrive.
To pay for all this, a sponsorship and fundraising chair looks for sources of funding besides the money from the university. The board’s still trying to fill that position.
“Because it’s the 10th year, everyone’s very pumped, and that helps,” Radhika said. “Things have been falling into place, and our board is very supportive and excited to start.”
On the weekend of the event, teams from around the country make their way to College Park. Friday kicks off with a mixer held in Stamp Student Union at which teams get to know one another, play games and relax before the big night Saturday.
“The entire weekend’s a blur,” Patel said.
Chadni agreed.
“It’s exhilarating … all this planning and then you’re finally there. It’s stressful, of course. There’s so many people to keep track of, and you want to make sure every little thing is perfect,” she added.
But the pair understands that not everything can go as planned.
“There’s slip-ups that you can’t control and things happen. … It’s something that you have to work on,” Chadni said.
That’s why they give prospective board members some scenarios to think through. They laughed about the banana question: What would you do if you have 400 bananas that all went brown right before the competition?
But Darpan Kayastha, last season’s director, said the weekend itself, while stressful, isn’t the most challenging aspect.
“There’s a lot of dependence on other people for getting paperwork in on time, getting things approved on time and hearing back from places that you’ve made inquiries at,” the senior physiology and neurobiology and psychology major said. “Planning far enough in advance so that everything falls into place was the hardest part.”
This January marked his third year with Masti. Before joining, he had never encountered the style of dance, but he was asked to help because of his experience with graphic art.
“It was a really great creative outlet. As a STEM major, I never really had a chance to explore arts and humanities. Joining Masti was something out of left field,” he said.
On show night, Kay Theatre is full of 250 dancers, volunteers and board members frantically juggling every last detail. That’s not to mention the audience.
“People come and enjoy the show, but maybe they don’t always realize just the countless number of hours that go into perfecting something like that,” Darpan said.
When everything is finished, Masti takes all the money it’s made, minus a little for next year’s show, and donates it to a charity. This year, they’ll be supporting the victims of this past month’s earthquake in Nepal.
Masti (pronounced “musty”) means “fun” in Hindi, and the Maryland Masti team says despite the sleepless nights and stressful slip-ups, it’s worth the year of preparation.
“It can be kind of overwhelming at times, but when you see it up there on the big screen, everyone does swell with pride a little bit,” Kyastha said. “There’s exhaustion and amazing relief afterwards, and then we celebrate like no tomorrow.”
