TemptAsian 2025: A Night to Remember

by Bhavya Natarajan ('27) & Shashank Manicka ('27)

The SBHS TemptAsian showcase, often regarded as the high school's biggest event of the year, is something many staff, students, and residents of South Brunswick are familiar with.  The 2025 show took place on Friday, February 28, and was almost sold out, with few seats remaining when the doors opened at 6:00 PM. 

Much like prior years, TemptAsian had an acting segment: a play called "Miles of Memories." It was written from scratch by the two acting captains, Seniors Meera Gupta and Pavan Sendil. The play's scenes alternated with different dance performances of the night, which all performers worked tirelessly to execute. Miles of Memories was about a high school reunion, where the six main characters learned to mature as they traveled across the country together. Senior Anna Ruzhansky and Sophomore Raina Patel were the two emcees of the night. 

Gupta said, "The theme of this year's show was about friendships that are reconnecting [and] kind of finding a family away from family, which I feel represents TemptAsian really [well] because we are essentially a group of kids bonding over something we are all really passionate about."

The other teams included: Singing, Freshmen Dance, Marathi, Hip-Hop, Classical, Bollywood, South Indian, K-Pop, Garba, and Bhangra. The two teams that brought the most energy and excitement to the night were SB Garba and SB Bhangra. The teams chanted at the end of their performances, prompting the audience with "SB what?" to which the crowd replied. 

Vice President of Asian Cultural Club and South Indian Captain Rishabh Teegavarapu said, "One of my favorite parts of the show, [was] when everyone was on stage dancing together at the end because [it was] like the last time especially [for] the seniors, [...] where we all got to be together.”

The singing team performed both American pop songs and Indian songs, often combining one of each, like "I Like Me Better" by Lauv and "Ve Maahi" by Arijit Singh. They also had instrumentalists playing piano, guitar, and various percussion instruments. Sophomore Ojas Limaye played the tabla, a pair of hand drums often used in North Indian classical music styles. Junior Rishabh Harikrishnan played the mridangam, a double-ended hand drum used in South Indian Carnatic music, as well as the cajon. Junior Satvik Dhananjay alternated with Harikrishnan to do a percussion solo on the mridangam, an age-old tradition for the TemptAsian singing team, where the percussion instrumentalists have a play-off. This is also known as a jugalbandi, where two soloists come together for a duet that alternates. 

Each dance category, except for K-pop, comes from a different part of India. K-pop, for this year's show, was a new addition that was introduced to add more variety and Asian diversity to the show, much like the Vietnamese section from TemptAsian 2024. 

In addition to introducing a new category, the Asian Cultural Club also had two new advisors who gave their all to bring the show to life: Mrs. Peri Orlando and Nurse Donna Moreen. 

Club Advisor Nurse Moreen said, "I was blown away by how hard everybody worked, you know, in their practices, and the organization was amazing [...] We absolutely loved it. We're gonna stay with it and we were so happy that you asked us that they needed one and that we, you know, said yes. It was really nice. We loved everything about the club."

Not only was significant work put in by every captain and performer, but the behind-the-scenes efforts were equally vital. Choir Teacher Mr. Aldo Aranzulla, with the help of Sound Engineer Senior Ashleigh Smith, Assistant Sound Operator Junior Maia Marcello, and Lighting Technician Junior Em Weisner, helped put the show together. 

Similar to South Brunswick’s TemptAsian, other schools across New Jersey have their own South Asian clubs and showcases. North Brunswick Township High School's InnovAsian board members came to watch the performance at SBHS, showcasing the sense of community among the large demographic of South Asian high schoolers in the Central New Jersey area. 

The night ended with a final dance from all the seniors, with the closing banner brought on stage as every performer of the night came together to celebrate.

TemptAsian 2025 was a big hit in the South Brunswick community and will surely leave everyone anticipating next year's showcase.