In a combined effort to bring the Indian culture closer to American students, the Baptist Student Ministry and the Midwestern Indian Students Association held the Culture Shock event on Oct. 27.

The event was during the time of the Indian festival Navratri, which lasts for nine nights, said Ajit Baridun, president of MISA.

To attract a larger crowd, BSM and MISA combined Navratri with Halloween, said Baridun.

One of the main attractions of the Navratri celebration is the traditional Garba dance.

“It’s the Garba dance,” Baridun said. “It’s actually a religious festival and we worship the goddess Durga.”

In order to familiarize students with the dance, free Garba lessons were offered during the week leading up to the event.

“[The Garba] is a group dance that most people have never experienced. It’s a great way to build community and just show each other affection,” said Ben Bryant, BSM intern.

“I was glad to see everyone dancing, like they were naturally born with the dance,” Baridun said.

The group sold 120 tickets, for $5 each, before the event and 20 additional tickets at the door, priced at $7.

The event was never meant to be a fundraiser, Ben Edfeldt, director of BSM, said.

“I thought it was a great way of being able to introduce the Indian culture to the American culture, because that is typically the students that come to what we do,” Edfeldt said.

MISA also promoted a traditional Indian dinner to be a part of their Navratri celebration.

The food cost $8 a person and was picked up from the Tandoor Indian restaurant in Dallas the morning of the event.

“$300 were funded from BSM for part of the tickets and all of those expenses, the rest came from the MISA fund,” said Baridun.

MISA also raised funds by selling Henna tattoos in the student center on Thursday and Friday.

Baridun said he was pleased with the amount of tattoos sold.

“On Friday we did at least 25 Henna tattoos in three hours,” Baridun said.

BSM is planning to help with another Culture Shock, if other student organizations are willing to work together.

“We saw a lot of value in celebrating the Indian culture,” Edfeldt said. “It is a beautiful culture and I know, for me at least personally, that you kind of get caught up in your own culture and not really recognize just the beauty of other international communities on campus.”

MISA is planning the celebration of Diwali, the festival of lights celebration, for Nov. 16.

“We combine different culture things together. Singing, dancing and make it a big event,” Baridun said.