When I sat down with Bhumi Patel, a freshman member of the South Asian Student Association, she had recently woken up from a much needed nap. “I got a lot less sleep than I should have,” she said to me, talking about how it was preparing for this year’s much anticipated SASA show. “There were some nights that we were up until five getting in last minute preparations,” she told me. The show this year was titled “Mr. and Ms. India.” Bhumi was one of the MC’s of the pageant-style event along with Rajan Bhatt. When I asked how she became MC, it seemed to have happened almost out of the blue. She told me that “one night our vice president, Shrina Patel, texted me and asked me if I wanted to do it. I wasn’t sure what the job entailed and said ‘Well, I might need a co-host’ but it turned out well. The night of the show came and it was like nothing I ever could have imagined. I was picturing a smaller crowd,” she remarked, thinking about the full house of 225 people, “I didn’t realize I would be on the stage for most of the show, but I’m glad I did it.”
The show was filled with many amazing dances, a slew of funny commercials and videos, and, unfortunately, surprise technical difficulties. “The tech had been working well all week so the show as the first time we had difficulties,” said Bhumi. “Rajan and I had to figure out ways to communicate and we ended up trying to interact with the crowd more. It was nerve-wracking, but everything worked out,” she said to me, almost glossing over how well they did dealing with these unexpected moments. Bhumi’s main concern with the show, one that I’m sure the rest of SASA shares, was “If people enjoyed the show or not. They seemed to have had a pretty positive response.” If you plan to come to the SASA shows in the following years, keep your eye out for Bhumi Patel once again as MC, as she tells me that she would “definitely do it again.”
It was a pleasure to interview Bhumi, whose personality and energy on stage directly translate to her persona on just a normal Monday night. From this collegiette and all of Her Campus PhilaU, congrats to SASA on a wonderful and wholly entertaining show! We are already excited for #SASA2017!