Senior recounts the past four years of BnB

For the past few years, senior Meghna Chakraborty, a talented dancer and choreographer, has dedicated dozens of hours to prepare for the annual Bombay in the Bay shows.

A typical afternoon for her lately in preparation for the Feb. 13-14 shows might look like this: The bell rings and Chakraborty rushes to the Quad to meet for skit practice, followed by two hours of senior co-ed practice and then two hours of rehearsal for Tamasha, the school’s Indian fusion dance team. Afterward, she heads to an outside Cupertino dance studio where she teaches a one-hour class. Finally, she finishes the day with a 90-minute practice for All-Girls’ Dance (AGD) — all running on an empty stomach and keeping her away from home and homework until 10:30 p.m.

This year’s opening show of Bombay in the Bay takes place tonight at 6 p.m. and tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the McAfee Center, which will be decorated in traditional Indian style. The three-hour event consists of choreographed dances, classical singing and a rehearsed skit.

The dances include a dance from each grade, a Bhangra dance, a classical dance, an all-girls’ senior dance (AGD), an all-boys’ senior dance (AMD), Toga Tamasha and a brand new instrumental singing performance. The skit features Chakraborty and fellow senior officers Simi Srivastava, Samir Ingle, Kushol Bhattacharjee, Somya Lalwani, Neha Anand and Mounika Narayanan.

This year, the club will donate proceeds to Pratham, one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India that works to improve education for underprivileged children.

The club expects to raise more than $10,000 from ticket sales, thanks to sponsorship from local businesses and realtors.

“We worked really hard to reach out to as many sponsors as we could,” Lalwani said. “We’ve raised more money from sponsors than ever before.”

The show is on a larger scale than in past years, featuring a record number of roughly 200 performers. Both shows are sold out, with guests attending from all over the Bay Area.

Chakraborty, the current Indian Cultural Awareness Club (ICAC) treasurer, sees BnB as one of the most important parts of her high school experience.

Chakraborty can still recall walking into her first ICAC meeting as a freshman, gazing in awe at the confident upperclassmen and wondering if one day, she might be a club officer too. Although she has danced classical, fusion, semi-classical and Bollywood since she was 4, she came into high school afraid of performing in front of her peers.

“Through BnB, I’ve become more comfortable and have embraced my love of all styles of dancing and choreography,” Chakraborty said. “I’ve definitely grown as a performer and also as a person in the way I interact with and lead my peers.”

But BnB isn’t always smooth sailing. Especially during the few weeks before this year’s opening night, Chakraborty has been overwhelmed with an endless list of “to-do’s.”

This list included practicing and teaching dances, mixing the music, writing and practicing the skit, scheduling deadlines and rehearsals, coordinating with the tech crew, organizing food with parents, figuring out ticketing and brochures, debating pricing options and advertising the show as much as possible.

“People always characterize Indians as dramatic, which may be true, but they definitely underestimate the work put into BnB if you are a choreographer or officer,” Chakraborty said. “All of us want the best show and want to be involved as much as we can senior year, but that tends to get chaotic.”

Besides a busy schedule, Chakraborty also has to contend with the notorious “BnB drama” surrounding costumes, choreography and the perception of power struggles within the group.

“It comes from misunderstandings for sure,” she said. “Drama comes when two passionate people feel strongly about something and oppose each other, and others mistake it for a power struggle.”

She also said that tensions occur over the issues of fairness in determining dance positions or pairs for the partner dance.

But one of Chakraborty’s biggest pet peeves is that participants don’t always invest the time and energy that is required to execute a great performance.

“It’s always important to have fun, but it gets frustrating when some people don’t take it as seriously and don’t show up to practices,” Chakraborty said. “Sometimes people think I take it too seriously, but I just have high expectations and this vision in my head that I really want to happen.”
Despite the tension, Chakraborty has learned to focus on getting what she can control done.

“You get through it by laughing about it later and realizing how much everyone has matured, or needs to mature,” Chakraborty said. “My favorite BnB memories always include the ends of our dances on stage, when I look around and see that everyone tried their best and is having fun, and I know we’ve pulled through again.”
This year, the All Girls’ Dance group, which consists of 13 senior girls, has grown into a family after spending so much time together. For senior Ranjini Nagaraj’s birthday on Jan. 24, AGD members proved their love by throwing her a surprise party at a dance practice.

According to Nagaraj, when she arrived at practice that day, she was running late and senior Varna Jammula opened the door, pretending to be mad about her tardiness. Nagaraj began to feel guilty, but once she walked in, the AGD members jumped out and surprised her with cake, balloons, cookies and a card.
“After reading all of their sweet messages on the card I was so happy that such amazing girls were part of AGD this year,” Nagaraj said.

As the class of 2015’s final Bombay in the Bay performance comes to an end this weekend, Chakraborty sees a satisfying conclusion to four chaotic years of choreographing, endless planning and occasional drama.

“It’s going to be so sad when it’s over,” she said. “There are so many memories, both good and bad, but the overall experience has always been positive. It’s so nostalgic to think back on how [we] have progressed and changed over the years, how we always come together for this show.”