Break dancing and beat-boxing
The Indian Society's East meets West blew us away
If, like me, you've shied away from going to an Imperial event because you thought they'd be crap and your money would be better spent on Texas Fried Chicken then I'm preaching to the right audience. Last year I never went to any shows put on by any Imperial society even though many of my friends were performing in them and they specifically asked me to come and show my support. Yes, I felt guilty when the asked me why I didn't show up and yes, I now regret it.
So, this year I have been fortunate enough to get free tickets and therefore go to many different events (God I love working for Felix). Alright, I'm still pikey, but at least I'm widening my horizons.
You can't fail to have noticed the college being covered in posters and flyers advertising East Meets West. However, for those non-Asians, and non-medics I hastened to add, you probably confused Mega Maalai with East meets West. So, a quick lesson to enlighten you.
Mega Maalai is presented by the Tamil Society. Tamils are from Sri Lanka, but they are different from the Sinhalese (who are also from Sri Lanka). The difference is that they generally have really really long surnames that you couldn't possibly pronounce and the Sinhalese, on the whole, have Portuguese surnames. Oh yeah I nearly forgot, one more difference, they are at war with each other. East meets West on the other hand, is presented by the Indian society and you can tell if someone's Indian because their surname is Patel.
See, it's easy when you know how. Now everyone's caught up let's move onto the review. East meets West was held at Shepherd's Bush Empire on Sunday 18th February, an impressive venue I must say. Outside the venue there was a long queue of people to the sold out event, which mainly consisted of Asian ICSM students and various members of their family, all dressed up in the most beautiful saris and traditional outfits.
It was here I suddenly realised that this event wasn't just a chance to watch your friends or family perform, it was also a chance to recognise your culture and be proud of it. I felt a little ashamed standing there in my jeans, but also a little jealous. There I was, a little Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) girl from Brighton who had always been the only brown person for miles, standing amongst people who've grown up in London with a huge Asian community around them. In Brighton my mother would never have dreamt of wearing a sari, but here it seems almost common place for older family members to wear traditional dress. Well at least my GayDar's better than theirs.
The compere for the night was the talented and endearing comedian Jay Sodagar. His controversial jokes we extremely funny, even though I seemed to be the only one laughing.
One of the first acts was Pick `n' Mix. Some of you may recognise them from Mega Maalai, where they stunned the audience with their break dancing. East meets West was no different, the crowd loved them and I heard many people saying that the wanted to start break dancing classes!
There were many musicians and singers during the show, but one of the best was the act titled "The Eastern West". The music was arranged by Ammar Waraich and the lyrics written by Rashad Zafarulla. This act comprised of Rashad beatboxing to a song from The Matrix, with Ammar on drums, and Phil Stennet, Aynkaran Vigneswaran and Ramyah Rajakulasingam on bass, tabla and vocals respectively. Took only 3 weeks to put together and some of the members met through an advert in Jazz and Rock society's digest. I talked the group after their performance and they said the main problem was the lack of a drum kit; in the end Ammar had to pay for one!
Throughout the show there were difficulties with the sound, but during the last performance of Act One the sound cut out completely. The performers of "Groundshaker" which showed the progression of bhangra from the fields of the Punjab to the streets of Southall, must be commended for carrying on.
Despite the technical difficulties, the whole show was thoroughly enjoyable and I will definitely be returning next year.
