By Andrew Reed

The Look Beyond Committee is hosting an event that should excite as much as it will teach.

“Tabla: Indian Culture Through Drum” is a chance to take a step out of the comfort of modern American culture, and into a whole new world through the Indian drum, the Tabla.

“Tabla: Indian Culture Through Drum”, will feature a special guest appearance through Zoom from master Tabla drummer Dishant Thakkar. Dishant will be teaching the basics of playing the Tabla and some history and culture behind the Tabla and India.

I sat down with Dr. Kihle (Assistant Professor of Percussion and Assistant Director of Bands) the moderator of this event, to gain further knowledge of the Tabla, and some insight into what will take place.

“He (Thakkar) is going to teach some Tabla drumming to participants.” Kihle continued with, “The second half is going to be Dishants thoughts and possibly participants thoughts on the interactions between Indian culture and American culture, how somebody from Indian culture experiences this culture and how people in this culture experience people from that culture.”

Dr. Kihle met Mr. Thakkar during both their times at Texas A&M Kingsville and when speaking with the Look Beyond Committee, Kihle brought up that he thought it would be a great opportunity to have Thakkar speak.

During our meeting, Dr. Kihle also added, “I hope that they will get a glimpse inside of a perspective that somebody who’s not from this country, and yet has experienced this country a little bit.”. He continued with, “And honestly, (I hope) they will appreciate what somebody else who’s not just like them is going through.”

The event is open to all students and is being held on Wednesday October 28th from 7:00pm to 8:00pm in the Voorhees Chapel. University of Jamestown COVID-19 protocols will be in place for this event which includes social distancing, masks and sanitizer and wipes.