North Atlanta is a school that boasts students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. This is seen through the many clubs dedicated to each culture at NAHS to make everyone feel like they belong. Over the years, cultural appreciation has been represented through many different showcases, such as Hispanic Heritage and Black History Month. This year, one more showcase was added to this repertoire – the Indian Heritage Month Celebration.
For the first time in school history, there is an Indian Culture Club that was present to provide a safe space for many of the school’s students with Indian backgrounds. The club realized that in order to make its presence known, they needed to show a celebration of their culture. This need was manifested as a week-long celebration of Indian heritage. The club released a stream of announcements that provided trivia on Indian culture to help bring their traditions into the limelight. They were also able to set up a teacher lunch that offered Indian cuisine and provided a celebration of the culture. For students, there was mango juice available outside of the cafeteria that was handed out by club members. Sanjana Mendonca, the club president, spearheaded the operation. She recognized the potential for the club to grow and worked tirelessly to put the celebration together. “I had to delay so much school work to make this work, but I’m so happy with how it turned out,” she said.
Other members of the club were ecstatic to see their culture represented in the school. As a club with only 17 members, many were extremely pleased to see so many students and teachers take an interest in their heritage. Junior Asha Furtah, a dedicated member of the club, loved being able to participate in the week-long program. She cherished being able to share her culture with the student body and dress in the traditional Indian garments that she may not have otherwise been able to wear. She is excited to consider what the future of Indian heritage representation looks like at North Atlanta. Furtah believes that these celebrations can grow alongside the club. While this particular program focused on celebrating the food, she hopes to one day see Indian-style dancing represented at the school. “I think Indian culture is much more diverse than what most people realize, and I just want people to know that our culture is not only food and pretty clothes,” she said.
As the second most populated country in the world, Indian culture is vibrant and diverse. For North Atlanta students who come from this background, it is very meaningful to know that they can be represented at the school and that other students are showing interest in their culture. While the club is still very new and still growing, it’s clear that the impact that this club can have on its members and general student body is very large.
