Wednesday night, Masala-SACE hosted comedian Vijai Nathan as part of Multicultural Week.

Nathan focused most of her comedy around themes such as racism and growing up as a foreigner.

"Smiles are universal, laughs are universal," said Lori Groves-White, Director of Leadership Development and Intercultural Affairs. "Instead of always beating diversity over people's heads, this was an opportunity to have fun and learn at the same time."

Junior Ekta Kumar, co-president of Masala-SACE, reminded the audience at the beginning that these themes are real issues despite the comedy.

"Even though this is a comedy show," Kumar said, "we need to remember that these are real issues that people face on a day to day basis."

Students, graduate students and faculty attended the event.

"The show was really well-attended by graduate students and people from different schools on campus," said junior Krish Vigneswaran. "Comedy is unique and fresh, and we don't get opportunities like this a lot at Vandy, so a lot of people came out."

Cancer biology graduate student Mayda Valentin said it was a unique educational experience as well as a comedy.

"I learned more about the culture without having to go to a lecture to learn about it, " Valentin said.

Junior Shivani Shah said the show highlighted part of the diversity on Vanderbilt's campus.

"The show definitely advertises that there are different types of people at Vanderbilt," Shah said. "I'm really glad that Vanderbilt had the opportunity to listen to a different types of comedy that represents a slice of diversity on campus."

Nathan is an internationally recognized performer who has won numerous awards and been featured on television. She also travels with her themed performance "Good Girls Don't, but Indian Girls Do."

"I didn't used to do comedy based on the Indian culture," Nathan said. "I used to say Indian-Americans are just like everyone else, just Americans like everyone else, but then I realized that Indians aren't like everyone else so I started performing Indian-American comedy."

Groves-White said it was a fun and educational night for all who attended.

"The event was good because it shows that students are multidimensional and can laugh at each other," Groves-White said. "That's what comedy is all about."