A fusion of Western and Indian music will be played in the Talley Student Center ballroom Sunday at 5 p.m.

MAITRI Indian graduate student association will sponsor the event which will promote talent.

Aditya Ravi, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and president of the MAITRI, said “Carnatic to Rock and Blues to Jazz will be played at the event.”

According to Ravi, the event began with several enthusiastic students who wanted a music program with the intention to promote their newly formed band “!NJAYN.”

Ravi said ticket costs factored into the event, but students are excited to see the 12-member band.

“Since the costs were high, students were a little hesitant, but they certainly wanted to do this show,” Ravi said.

Sriram Menon, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and a band member, said the event plans to mix Jazz and traditional Indian music.

“It will be a good mix of Western and Indian music and there will also be some fusion stuff,” Menon said. “Our own compositions are an attempt to fuse some Jazz music with Indian music, both of which we find extremely challenging to create, as well as to play.”

A lot of preparation went into the program and according to Menon, the group practiced for over a month, picking up songs that they wanted to play.

Saranathy Pakkam, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and band member, said plenty of rehearsal went into preparing for the event.

“We had a lot of rehearsals, some of which went on for four to five hours. A lot of coordination between conflicting schedules of band members was required,” Pakkam said.

Ravi said the event will also have free refreshments and an area to relax and enjoy the performance.

“Since it’s an evening where one can relax and chill out with friends and listen to good music, I think the response should be good, and hey, we have free pizza as well,” said Ravi.

According to Ravi there were not many formalities or permissions involved with organizing such event.

“We contacted the Talley Student Center to reserve the Ballroom, and automatically we have the clearance to play music or host any other approved event as per their regulations,” Ravi said.

According to Ravi, MAITRI wanted to do something bigger but there are time and money constraints attached to every event.

“This committee will step down and a new committee will be elected in December. This will be a foundation for such events and we only hope that the new committee will work on it and make it even bigger,” Ravi said.

Ravi encouraged students to attend the event since it will be a well deserved break from tiring academic work.