It feels good to be passionate about something again, even if it's really trivial. I attended SCIA's culture show this saturday. It was the 11th annual, and since eleven is the best number in the world ever, I thought it might be good. And it was. The skit and mc's were spectacular...and other than that, it was better than expected. It was my first time in the audience..and let me tell you: it is DAMN hard not to be really critical while in the audience of something you've run before. And since I'm not one to resist temptation, I was pretty critical. Let me also tell you: i am NOT pleased with the fact that the opening and thank you speeches I wrote two years ago are still partly used, word for word. Come on people, it wasn't even that good of a speech.
The real reason I'm feeling kind of fired up about the night was not so much the show itself, but more what the organization has become. I know, I know, most people are like, "what do you care..you graduated..it's just a college club...move on..blapity bloo bla." And I totally get all of that. But when you dedicate so much time and effort to make something great because you believe in the positive effect it can have on people, it's really really disappointing to see that turned around within a year's time. Especially since I read that Newsweek Jhumpa Lahiri
"Indian-American article", and the fear of the culture dying off here. When I was on board junior year, I felt like we really got people interested that wouldnt otherwise have been, and we ended up doing good for the community.
My beef with the club today:
1) Whoring themselves for corporate sponsorships. What the hell was up with the 5 minute tribute to Chaudry fashions DURING the show, not even at intermission. And the Chaundry Fashions Presents in huge type on the flyer. Just cuz its easier to whore out the show to one major sponsor instead of working to fundraise with other sponsorships and sell tickets, doesnt make it right.
2)
NO mention of a charity or philanthropic cause. Pranav raised an excellent point, if theyre getting major sponsors to fund the show and evidently not putting any effort into philanthropy (not even a pass the can during the show?), then what purpose do all those parties serve? These parties are supposed to be fundraisers for all the other "good" things SCIA does. If it's just to secure a more "sick" banquet location, then they're not acting on a large part of the organization's mission statement.
Those are two of the major things. I know most students dont care about these issues, but it's a reputation thing. After 2004, SCIA had this great reputation among the community, at USC and across California. Being a part of it meant that you were actually doing some good for the south asian community, even if all the members didn't know it...that was part of the responsibility you took on with being a board member. We'd even worked really hard to set up a lifetime scholarship and I don't remember a mention of it (though I could have missed it), and I haven't seen any publicity of it by the club.
That's the disappointing part. It feels like it just doesn't mean anything anymore. It's a party organization just like every other group. This totally seems like a silly rant, but at least I'm not alone in feeling like this. The ex-board members from the past several years who really cared have all expressed similar sentiments. It might just be cyclical, which is fine too. I'll have to end this with...whatever. :-)
2 more things: 1) Indian girls dont look Indian any more, what's the deal? 2) Why werent the boys this cute when I was a freshman? Four years too late and four years too early I tell ya. :-)
