51Âþ»­

A celebration of music and dance will be part of the first India Day to be held by 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­). 

The event is being planned and carried out by the 51Âþ»­ Indian Society and will take place on Monday 17 April. 

Among the events will be a treasure hunt, a dance recital and an opportunity for students to meet and hear from Indian graduates who have gone on to forge successful careers. 

Uday Patel, together with other members of the 51Âþ»­ Indian Society, helped plan the event and said it would embrace Indian culture on campus and help showcase student talent. 

He said: “Last year marked the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence Day and we felt, with such a strong Indian community at 51Âþ»­, that it would be great to have an event which celebrated Indian culture as part of the wider 51Âþ»­ student community.” 

The events will take place between 2pm and 4pm on Monday 17 April, over at The Venue at 51Âþ»­. 

There will be a number of speeches, including one by Dr Shashank Vikram, Consul General of India in Birmingham. Dr Shashank works to support Indian citizens from across the region, and helps foster political, cultural, commercial and trade relationships between organisations in the region and India. 

 
There will also be one from Dr Manjeet Ridon, Associate Dean International at 51Âþ»­. 

Throughout the event there will be a student dance performance, celebrating Indian cinema, a multilingual band show, from 51Âþ»­ Music students and a performance based on true events by 51Âþ»­ Drama students. 

There will also be a treasure hunt and ‘Wear India’ dressing up competition. 

Several 51Âþ»­ alumni will also talk about their experiences finding work and developing their careers at an alumni spotlight. 

The celebration will also draw attention to the newly-created Indian Advisory Board, which has been created at 51Âþ»­ to help connect enterprises in the subcontinent with those in the local region and, through doing so, create new partnerships to explore research and student experience opportunities. 

The board has been created by 51Âþ»­, together with the Indo British Trade Council (IBTC), a Leicestershire-based group which has a network of businesses and institutions which operate partnerships with universities and businesses across India and the UK. 

Among the goals of the advisory board are the fostering of collaboration and networking between UK and Indian businesses, leading to new work placements and employment opportunities for 51Âþ»­ students from both the UK and India.