Where it Began
"Founded in the fall of 2001 by Lopa Sisodia and Monica Parekh. We tried out for a cappella groups but found that we couldn't find what we were looking for. We wanted a group on our campus that represented our culture, our heritage, and our voice. We contacted the Indian Student Association and the Asian American Student Union to get an adviser and learn the ropes of starting our not yet defined organization. We didn't know what we wanted exactly so at our first meeting we encouraged anyone with a musical interest to join.
We had singers and musicians; tabla players, guitarists, pianists, and violinist. The majority of our singers had never been trained and just enjoyed the pleasure of singing. More importantly we had a common interest. We started off as a diverse collection of ideas, desires, and visions to form Anokha: the first South Asian a cappella group at the University of Maryland, College Park. We chose the name because of its roots and meaning; it defines the identity of our group and is always what we strive to be, UNIQUE and EFFERVESCENT: Anokha"
– Lopa Sisodia, Co-founder, University of Maryland Class of 2005
We had singers and musicians; tabla players, guitarists, pianists, and violinist. The majority of our singers had never been trained and just enjoyed the pleasure of singing. More importantly we had a common interest. We started off as a diverse collection of ideas, desires, and visions to form Anokha: the first South Asian a cappella group at the University of Maryland, College Park. We chose the name because of its roots and meaning; it defines the identity of our group and is always what we strive to be, UNIQUE and EFFERVESCENT: Anokha"
– Lopa Sisodia, Co-founder, University of Maryland Class of 2005
