INSAT: Connecting Students and Enriching Campus Through Culture

The Indian Student Association of Tallahassee (INSAT) is one of the largest student organizations on campus, with more than 600 registered members. Established in the late 1980s, the organization’s primary mission is to support the transition of new international students from India to FSU. Sriya Chakraborty, former INSAT president and a PhD student in English Literature, Media and Culture, reflected on her own experience: “I remember when I first moved to the U.S. I was completely clueless because it was a big cultural shock. INSAT facilitates that transition to a great extent with welcome events and by providing resource information for housing, groceries and local events.”

INSAT has collaborated with the CGE for years with events such as International Coffee Hour and Global Café as well as hosting their own major annual celebrations for Diwali and Holi. The organization has also performed the showstopping, Bollywood inspired final performances at the last two International Bazaars—with plans to perform again this year. Chakraborty has played a key role in choreographing and coordinating these performances and is contributing once more this year. Each year’s performance features a unique theme: in 2024 it was Festivals of India and in 2025 it was Love in the Swipe Right Era. Regarding this year’s showcase, Chakraborty shared “I don't want to give a lot of information because I want to keep the surprise element, but we are doing something on the mythologies of India. India has lots of mythological stories—we want to bring them to life through our dance performance.”

Registered student organizations (RSO) like INSAT, and many others that partner with the CGE, are the reason events like the International Bazaar thrive. Mani Tyagi, current INSAT president and a Computational Science/Physics PhD student, highlighted the benefits of the event: “The International Bazaar is a great medium for [INSAT] to represent our culture, and we get to socialize and interact with other RSOs and their cultures.”

If your global RSO is interested in participating in CGE programming or tabling at the upcoming International Bazaar, please contact CGE Programs Manager Alek Valles at cge-programs@fsu.edu.