By Madeline Gray, Dayana Alonso and Zheyu Yang

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (April 3, 2025)

When Kavya Kaushik first joined Humraah last year, she had no idea what it would eventually mean to her. In fact, she only joined in the first place because Humraah’s schedule aligned nicely with her business fraternity. 

“I was like, ‘You know what? Let me just try Humraah,’” Kavya explained. “I had no idea that that would truly impact my college experience and my life.”

Little did Kavya know that not only would Humraah make a sizable mark on her life, but also on the South Asian A Capella circuit nationally, as the past two years have been nothing short of extraordinary for her and Humraah.

Humraah, a South Asian a capella group at IU, has risen rapidly through the ranks of the South Asian acapella circuit over the past two years, topping the national rankings and preparing to continue their momentum into the end of this year and the years to come. While this ascent seems sudden, the members of Humraah know exactly how it happened – a dedication to hard work and each other.

Humraah started competing last year, and it was clear that they were starting out when compared to other, more established teams. The team was understandably less experienced in mixing songs than teams that had been doing this for years, and their nerves were evident. By the end of the competition season, Humraah was ranked 22nd nationally. 

However, Co-President Dhar Sriram noticed a change in the team and their level of performances this year at Spartan Sitara, an event at Michigan State University featuring teams from across the country, including from Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and The Ohio State University. This event was the first of Humraah’s competition season both years, and the difference in outcome for Humraah was exciting and a sign of greater things to come. While they didn’t place last year, this year, Humraah won it all against stiff competition.

“We really wanted to prove ourselves at a competition that we had already been to,” Dhar explained, “so to go there and see some of the same people and be in the same environment and do exponentially better meant so much to the team.”

Beyond Spartan Sitara, Humraah has also placed first in Gathe Raho at the University of Iowa and at IU Sing, an a capella competition here in Bloomington. They’ve risen through the ranks nationally to become the top ranked team in the South Asian A Capella circuit, and they show no signs of slowing down now. They spend hours each week in Briscoe meticulously practicing and perfecting their craft (although not without breaks to chat and raid the Briscoe C-Store), but what has truly motivated their rise to the top has been the depth of friendship that Humraah has achieved.

Walking into a Humraah practice feels like walking into a meeting between a large group of old friends because of how excited everyone is to see each other. Kavya admitted that the group has separation anxiety and love to be together, which Dhar expanded upon with a story from the day of the interview.

“I’m standing in the lobby of Hodge, and I see two Humraah people, then I see a couple more, and a couple more…” Dhar began. “It’s a group of 9 of us in the middle of the lobby, talking and chatting… we took a picture of us together and sent it to the group chat. Another member said, ‘You’re taking this photo like you don’t see each other everyday,’ which is true!”

With all of the group’s success, it would be easy to sit back and allow for a moment of rest. However, Humraah has been busier than ever this past week while preparing for Nationals in San Francisco, which will take place this Saturday. The top eight teams nationally are invited, and the group is excited to prove themselves to the nation and to compete with teams that they’ve excitedly watched for years from afar. 

For Kavya, this moment represents everything that Humraah has worked for and reminds her of why they have put so much work in over the past two years, work that she could’ve never imagined paying off in the manner it has when she joined last year.

“Seeing everything from this year made all the troubles of starting a competition season and being the underdogs last year worth it” Kavya admits. “I’m really proud of everyone, lucky to have everyone, and grateful that we all found each other at the perfect time in life.”

Members of Humraah talk about their experience with the team and their recent success. They credit their newfound rise to the top of the South Asian A Capella circuit to their strong friendships.