Sambar: A Night of Festive Feasts

As we stepped into the light of the Asian American Community Center on March 5th an hour after the event had started, the remaining cold from outside melted away. The drum of loud chatter and the mouthwatering scents of comfort food seeped in from the hall. Sambar was in full swing.

We had barely a moment to collect ourselves before a family friend rushed forward, bridging the gap between us, our feet still rooted in the doorway, and the hall with its overflowing noise. A conversation immediately blossomed, I straightened my back (so they could see how “grown-up” I was becoming) and nodded along, picking out the snippets of “How are you doing?,” “We’re so glad you could make it,” “It’s been so long! How are things in India with your parents?” We eventually parted and made our way to the ordering room with a table in the center covered in laminated menus and ads for pre-ordering tickets for Asha’s upcoming Holi event, and a table pushed to the corner of the room where Asha volunteers stood with rolls of tickets. We purchased our tickets and headed our way to order our food before gathering around a table, surrounded by familiar faces and soon-to-be-friends.

Sambar is a one-night pop-up that serves delicious Indian cuisine perfect for both those who are looking to expand their culinary horizons or seasoned experts of South Asian food. However, more than that it’s a CU staple, running for 10 years and bringing in crowds of hundreds. It’s also one of Asha UIUC’s largest fundraisers of the semester. Asha for Education is an international nonprofit that was founded in 1991 that aims to make education accessible to underprivileged children in India. While founded at the University of California in Berkeley, there are chapters around the world that raise funds that are sent to India to pay for school buildings, teachers’ salaries, and school supplies, among other things. The volunteers of the UIUC chapter work hard planning events year-round like Sambar and the upcoming Holi festival. To stay up to date with all of Asha UIUC’s events, check out their Facebook and Instagram @ashauiuc.

A lot of effort goes into making Sambar happen for the public to enjoy. Planning starts several weeks in advance and a date is decided on early into the process based on the dates for other upcoming events. A menu is decided soon after and the board has gotten a good idea of what Champaign residents enjoy the most after years of holding Sambar here. “As a board we also try to think of new items that we all like to eat but may not necessarily get at local Indian restaurants,” chapter president Shreya Gargya explained. “Other than that, we also try to collect feedback from our attendees through surveys to hear directly from our supporters about what they would like to see at our events.” The board also loves supporting local businesses, usually partnering with Indian restaurant Signature Grill which provides samosas for the event. From there, promotional materials like posters and menus are created and the board works to spread the word about the upcoming event. Finally, the week leading up to Sambar is spent buying materials, preparing the food, and setting up the venue. The work doesn’t end there as the members spend Sambar serving the food and manning the cash registers.

Gargya is very passionate about her social commitments and her role in Asha UIUC helps fulfills those. She joined the chapter during her first semester in college after seeing a stall at Quad Day. “I was immediately drawn to the organization as I thought it would allow me to connect with my home country and give back in some capacity, even while living so far away.” Gargya said. “I believe that education is a right, not a privilege…School taught me to appreciate the world around me. But, I know many children around the world don’t have all the options that I did, due to social and financial barriers. Despite this, every child deserves the right to be able to work hard and get an education.” She’s been on Asha UIUC’s board for almost 4 years now and was very involved in the Sambar that took place spring of 2020. Due to many of the former board members graduating, and Gargya knowing how most of the planning went, the responsibility was passed to her to teach the new members how to run the event and pass on the knowledge so Sambar’s can keep being held after her graduation in May.

This Sambar she had to “oversee the fundraiser as a whole, from making a clear timeline for the planning of the event to ensuring that the event ran smoothly on the day of.” When asked how she balanced this huge responsibility and schoolwork she said that “The most important thing is time management. I like to plan out my schedule in advance, so I can keep track of all my responsibilities, whether it is event planning or my assignment due dates.” Her favorite tools for staying organized are her Google Calendar and Notion. This isn’t to say that there are never bumps in the road. “Sometimes things come up that you can’t expect, but I try my best to work with my team members to solve them.” Gargya admitted. “If one of us is busy, I can always count on someone else to step up and help out.”

One of the biggest challenges for the team this year was spreading the word and reaching a diverse audience. Despite the state of our world for the past few years, in-person events are slowly making a comeback. Asha UIUC worked incredibly hard publicizing the event on campus and in the “Chambana” community through posts on social media, flyers in community centers, and outreach emails. Gargya’s favorite part of Sambar is getting to cook with all the board members. “We spend all morning chopping vegetables, cooking, and setting up in preparation,” she said. “We all have different styles and experiences with cooking, so it’s fun to see what we come up with each time the event is held.”

One hour turned to two and evening turned to pitch night. The once loud chatter had been sucked into our lone table, impassioned and boisterous as ever, despite the silence surrounding us. We stayed until the last hours of the events when the staff had begun to eat and only one or two people popped in to order what remained of the food. We said goodbye every 10 to 15 minutes but were immediately swept into another conversation, our arms filling up quickly with more and more boxes of leftover food. Eventually, we trudged back into the cold, with the weight of what felt like 10 Styrofoam containers and the warm memories of community and joy.

Sambars are important for this community in a lot of different ways. They help foster connection and growth after those things have been taken from us for so long. They also allow us to reach a hand out to people in need, expanding our community beyond borders. As Gargya mentioned, “Sambar is a great way for us to help bring Indian culture into the Champaign area. Although there are several Indian restaurants in town, there’s just something different about homemade food, especially for all the students living far from home.”

If you feel inspired to give Asha UIUC a try, their next event is Holi 2022, which will be held on Sunday, April 10th at the University of Illinois Arboretum from 12-5 pm. According to Gargya, it’s the biggest Holi celebration in the Midwest and brings almost 2000 people together every year. This will be the chapter’s first Holi since the pandemic started and Asha would love to have you with them.