Personal Statement
The reason I started judging was after a particularly terrible experience I had with a judging panel. The panel was completely contradicting each other, no one was on the same page, all the judges had radically different interpretations of the rubric. What put the nail in the coffin for me was when the judge said “I don’t really follow a rubric. I just kind of watch the performance and then allocate the points later.” I was absolutely livid and that made me realize that I had to start judging so people like that never have the opportunity to judge again.
My main goal as a judge is to provide transparent scoring and constructive feedback. Honestly, almost anyone with some captain experience can score a competition. What separates a good judge from a great one is the ability to break down a set and be able to clearly explain why they scored the way they scored and what a team can do better to improve. That right there, is what is missing from a lot of the circuit judges and something I think I excel at. Every meeting, I start with turning my laptop to the teams and show them how I scored in comparison to all the other teams so the captains have a rough understanding of how they did in an instant so they can ask pointed questions and I always make myself available for future conversation about their performance.
Judging is also a huge reason why I became a BTF moderator and helped found The Bhangra Podcast. The Bhangra Podcast has made many episodes where we discuss what we think is wrong about the judges in the circuit amongst many other issues and try to open up a discussion about how to make the circuit better. With BTF, the other moderators work together to try to get conversations about these topics out in the open more so we can all learn together.
Dance Experience
Captain – First Class Bhangra (2016 – 2019)
Founder/Producer – The Bhangra Podcast (2017 – Present)
Captain – Darzana (2020 – 2022)
Founder/Director – eBhangra and eFusion Competition (2020 – 2022)
Dance Instructor – Various NYC Bhangra Classes (2021 – Present)
Dancer – Steel City Bhangra (2014 – 2015)
Dancer – First Class Bhangra (2015 – Present)
Dancer – First Class Bhangra Live (2015)
Dancer – Furteelay Shokeen (2018)
Dancer – Ministry of Bhangra Chicago (2019)
Dancer/Choreographer – Darzana (2019 – 2022)
Moderator – Bhangra Teams’ Forums (2018 – Present)
Choreographer – Temple Agni (2019 – 2020)
Judges’ Liaison – Naach Di Cleveland (2018)
Board Member – Dhirana (2018)
Team Liaison – Steel City Sapna (2019)
Competitions Competed At
Aaj Ka Dhamaka 2014 (Steel City Bhangra)
Bhangra Fever 2015 (SCB)
Raas Rave Bhangra Blitz 2015 (SCB)
Motor City Bhangra 2015 (SCB)
Bhangra in the Burgh 2015 (First Class Bhangra) – 2nd Place
Buckeye Mela 2016 (FCB) – 1st Place
Motor City Bhangra 2016 (FCB Live)
Bruin Bhangra 2016 (FCB) – 2nd place
GOT Bhangra (FCB) – 1st Place
Bhangra in the Burgh 2016 (FCB) – 2nd Place
Buckeye Mela 2017 (FCB) – 2nd Place
Big 10 Bhangra 2017 (FCB) – 2nd Place
Clutch City Bhangra 2017 (FCB) – 1st Place
Got Bhangra Competition 2017 (FCB) – 1st Place
Bhangra in the Burgh 2017 (FCB) – 2nd place
Buckeye Mela 2018 (Furteelay Shokeen) – 2nd place
Bruin Bhangra 2018 (FCB) – 2nd place
Queen City Bhangra 2018 (FCB) -3rd place
Bhangra in the Burgh 2018 (FCB) – 1st place
Buckeye Mela 2018 (FCB) – 3rd Place
Naach di Cleveland 2019 (MOB Chicago)
Championships of Bhangra 2019 (FCB) – 2nd place
Bruin Bhangra 2019 (MOB Chicago)
Bhangra in the Burgh 2019 (FCB) – 3rd Place
Buckeye Mela 2023 (FCB) – 1st Place
Total – 25
1st – 5
2nd – 9
3rd – 3
Competitions Judged
Maryland Mauj 2019
Aa Dekhen Zara 2019
Boston Bhangra Competition 2019
Penn State Infusion 2020
Maryland Mauj 2020
Maryland Mauj 2022
Nachde Nashville 2022
Bhangra Blowout 2022
References
Founder of FCB – Ram Mahalingam – ram.mahalingam00@gmail.com
Founder of FCB – Sid Pandit – siddharth.s.pandit@gmail.com
Co-Captain of FCB – Saagar Menon – skm49@pitt.edu