The Bollywood Dance Club has big plans for celebrating culture at Carroll ISD. In 2017, the newly formed club founded CultureFest to showcase multiculturalism in the district. While the first event was small, CultureFest has grown to involve all 11 campuses and raise money for charity. Even though 2020’s event was canceled due to COVID-19, the BDC is ready to bring back CultureFest stronger than ever before.
Starting CultureFest
When Carroll grad Rahul Guhan’s family moved from California to Southlake four years ago, it was hard for him to fit in. His love of Bollywood dance and Indian culture didn’t have an outlet, so he created one by founding the Bollywood Dance Club with a group of friends. Shortly after forming, the group held its first CultureFest where students danced, dressed in Indian garb and shared flavorful cuisine.
“It’s hard to really show your culture sometimes,” Rahul says. “You feel like you have to sometimes hide that part of yourself. But at CultureFest, you can be yourself and show others who you truly are. We wanted students to fully embrace themselves and their heritage.”
Growing CultureFest
Over the next several years, the BDC included more Carroll ISD clubs in its CultureFests, not just multicultural clubs like the Muslim Student Association, the Spanish Club and the Latin Club, but extracurricular clubs like engineering, color guard and board game. “Carroll diversity is more than culture clubs — it's all of the clubs that make our schools special,” Rahul says.
“There are so many other clubs that are underappreciated and people are unaware of, so we expanded and reached out to more people, so we could take this higher.”
The festivals got more ambitious each year, including more elaborate dance numbers, fashion shows and software demonstrations. And its lasting impact is also growing. CultureFest raised more than $750 for the International Rescue Committee and $1,147 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 2018 and 2019, and the organization was hoping to raise money for the Australian Red Cross in 2020 before the event was canceled.
“This was an event we had been looking forward to for months,” current co-president Alyiah Karmali says. “To learn that all our hard work would be for nothing was disheartening.”
Continuing CultureFest
Although Rahul graduated from Carroll last year, his fellow BDC members are continuing to build on the foundation he left behind. While CultureFest will take place on April 3, Alyiah says the format may move to virtual since in-person gatherings are still limited.
Regardless of the shape or form CultureFest takes this year, co-president Aayush Mishra looks forward to creating connections and spreading cultural awareness in 2021 and beyond.
“I am just looking forward to celebrating culture and diversity again,” Aayush says. “This past year has been a difficult one, and I think it's important we all have something to look forward to and celebrate together.”