India’s Independence Day celebrations across the United States—showcasing India’s cultural diversity and growing economic growth
"Deepika Padukone and Vijay Mallya greet the crowd."
August 15th is a very important day in the lives of Indians in almost all the parts of the world. It was on this day 61 years ago, India became a free nation, overthrowing the colonial British rule and began its “tryst with destiny.” The Indian American community, spread across the United States, takes pride in celebrating India Day every year, honoring their mother land and deepening their commitment and bond to India. The India Day Parade in New York, marking the celebrations of India’s Independence Day, has become an increasingly popular event and attracts large crowds from around the New York region, making it the biggest such event outside of India. This year was no exception. Over 50,000 people came to witness the showcasing of the rich cultural extravaganza on Madison Avenue in New York City on Sunday, August 17th, 2008.
"Dance performances were among the highlights of the parade."
Organized by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), the 28th annual India Day Parade, showcased to the world the Indian cultural heritage and the fast expanding economy, fascinating the NRIs and the hundreds of non Indians who had filled the streets from 41st Street to 23rd Street on Madison Avenue in New York City.
Star attraction of the daylong event, Deepika Padukone, who had stormed Bollywood with her debut film Om Shanti Om last year, was the grand Marshal of the parade, while industrialist Vijay Mallya was the chief guest. Yash Paul Soi, president of the Federation of Indian Associations, an umbrella organization of several cultural and community bodies, which organized the parade, said, FIA had invited Mallya as a symbol of the fast growing economic power of India.
The atmosphere was charged with festivity and vibrancy of Indian culture, with many people waving the tricolor and quite a few dressed in the colors of the national flag. “And it is the best parade I have seen,” Rohit Vyas, in his 20th year as Master of Ceremonies, told the media.
"Crowds enjoying the cultural extravaganza at the end of the parade on
Madison Ave."
Around 40 floats and groups participated in the parade - all sponsored by private bodies ranging from multi national companies to spiritual organizations. While disseminating their own messages, they also played patriotic songs as well as popular film numbers. Among others, floats were organized by insurance company MetLife, the Indo-American Seniors’ Association, Asha for Education, Sakhi, New York Life Insurance, American Federation of Muslims of India, United Hindu Cultural Council and the Indo- American Pharmacists’ Society. The three major airlines from India, AIR INDIA, Jet Airways, Kisgfisher Airways, were leading the parade with their beautiful displays of aircrafts and the modern comforts of added to the newly acquired flights.
The parade was followed by a four-hour-long cultural extravaganza, mostly music and dances, from Bollywood to folk, which lasted till late evening. The lively crowd enjoyed the musical entertainments put up by various budding artists chosen from the New York region.
President George Bush’s protocol secretary Raymond Martinez attended on behalf of the US government the Independence Day dinner hosted by Indo- American President Andy Keshav Shenoy on Aug 17th. He conveyed the good wishes of President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and highlighted the growing cooperation between India and the US in several fields, from economy to military to that in combating terrorism. He spoke of the role that the two major democracies can play in ‘times of political difficulties around the world’, while lauding the contribution of the 2.5 million strong Indian- American community to the economy of the US.
In addition to the glamorous world of Bollywood, the popular New York India Day Parade this year spotlighted on world peace and Mahatma Gandhi. Yashpal Soi told this writer, “FIA has started campaigning to have Mahatma Gandhi’s statues erected at the United Nations in Manhattan and Liberty State Park in New Jersey. It has written to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon seeking permissions.”
The Federation of Indo-American Associations of Southern California (FIA So. Cal) celebrated India’s 61st Independence Day with a dinner banquet at the Diamond Bar Community Center, Sunday Aug 21. It was a grand banquet attended by a full house of over 500 people, including Diamond Bar Mayor Jack Tanaka, Peter Mathews of the 27th Distt (Long Beach), FIA founding father and Chairman Gopio S. Inder Singh and the FIA leadership, to mention a few.
The evening kicked off with the lighting of the lamp and the national anthems. FIA president Surinder Bhoyal, past President Moti Kapoor and Executive VP Ajmer Singh welcomed the guests and introduced the FIA team and the invitees to the guests. The entertainment was multi-layered and brought about the best of talent from So. Cal. Sunny Singh enthralled the guests with vintage Kishore Kumar songs. Dipali Singh is a qualified voice trainer and an accomplished artiste. Extremely pretty, charming and vivacious, Dipali had the audience on the edge of their seats. Avtar Chadha is a familiar face at such events and he entertained the audience with the best of Mohamed Rafi.
Not to be left behind were the kids, who presented a variety ranging from Bollywood to Bhangra. Mayor Tanaka presented a proclamation from his city, as did Councilman Harry Sidhu. Community leaders including Inder Singh and Dr. Nitin Shah were honored. Likewise the sponsors were also feted. There was a well stocked bar serving the choicest sprits.
The evening ended with Harjit Mehndi on stage, singing the best of Bollywood and Punjabi folk. It was indeed a very well organized event and the So. Cal. FIA deserves full credit for it. Founded in 1979, this is the original and the oldest FIA in Southern California. As the recently established tradition goes, the India Day celebrations in Chicagoland had a kick off from Chicago Mayor Office two weeks ago at Cultural Center in Downtown and the Indian American community picked up the threat lining up a series of functions starting with flag hoisting by Association of Indian Americans (AIA) and ending with a grand Parade by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) on Mahatma Gandhi Marg (Devon Avenue) on Saturday, August 16. Indian Consulate hosted a flag hoisting ceremony at the Consulate office in Chicago followed up with a banquet at Chicago Cultural Center in Downtown. Though the Bollywood superstars were conspicuous by their absence and economic downturn had a general dampening effect, the community members still turned out in huge numbers to attend the FIA Banquet and Parade. Those present at the Parade were taken aback for a while but the 40 floats colorful Parade then waded their way passing the Podium without any major incidence. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was the Grand Marshal and he got endeared himself with the crowd through his genial approach. He had earlier declared August 15 as Indian Independence Day in the State of Illinois. Upen Patel, a super model turned a film star was also a marshal and his presence lent some color to the Parade. Among the top dignitaries present at the Parade were Congresswoman Jan Schakowaski, Ald Bernard Stone, Dorothy Brown among others.
After the Mayor’s event at the Chicago Cultural Center, it was the turn of AIA to have a flag hoisting ceremony on August 11 at Daley Plaza. A large number of non Desi crowd was entertained by cultural program. Naren Patel AIA president welcomed the guests while Professor Ghanshyam Pandey briefly talked about the AIA achievements in the past three decades.
A much larger crowd of nearly 750 people mostly Indian Americans had gathered at the Meadows Club, Rolling Meadows, a suburb of Chicago, the same evening for a grand celebration of Indian Independence Day. As usual the function began with the recitations of Indian and US National Anthems followed by a patriotically oriented dance presentation by Kalapadma Dance Academy. In her Presidential address Hetal Patel the youngest and the first female President in FIA history said, “ my presidency has been exciting as well as challenging as I had the opportunity to encourage increased participation from the youth within the Indian community.
The India Association of St. Louis celebrated the Indian Independence day on Saturday, August 16 at Mahatma Gandhi Cultural Center, where several local vendors also displayed their novel products. The function started at 11 am in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue, where the American National Anthem followed by Indian National Anthem, They were was sung collectively by children aged 3- 10 years. The American flag was hoisted by the guest of honor Dr Sam Page 82 district representative and the candidate for lieutenant Governor of Missouri.
The Indian flag was hoisted by the acting president Hema Patel. In his message, Dr Page brought the similarities between USA and of India in their struggle for Independence while drawing a contrast of the stressing of peace in Indian struggle. The chief guest cut ribbon to open the booths of the local vendors. Several competitions such as essay writing, drawing, floral arrangements wee conducted during the function. Several children and adults participated in the cultural programs. The celebrations were a whole day events attended by over 400 people.
The Indian Association of Los Angeles held India Independence Day on August 16 in Pierce College in Woodland Hills. This was the ninth annual event in the San Fernando Valley. Activities included free health fair, cultural dance show, and food and vending booths. There were more than 80 booths of Indian food, Indian clothing, jewelry and many more. Kids were having fun on the 50-foot slides while parents were enjoying delicious Indian food.
Cultural show lasted for four hours with performances of different community artists. US Congressman Brad Sherman, LA County Sheriff Leroy D Baca, LA City Council Member Wendy
Greuel, Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu and Mr Dubey representative of Consulate General of India attended the event.
Congressman Brad Sherman presented IALA president with a US flag that flown over White House in Washington DC. Inder Singh, co-founder of India Association of Los Angeles was honored by a Lifetime Achievement Award for is outstanding services to the Indian community. IALA president Raman Chadha said that success of this event goes to hard working committee members and volunteers who made this evening possible.
He said that he would also like to thank our sponsors for their financial support, otherwise, it would not have been possible to weave together such a grand event. Some of the sponsors include Kumar Jawa of India Sweets & Spices, Jack Khangura, Gurdarshan Nat, Satish Tomar of Kumar Tax, TV Asia, Harbhajan Samra of Samra Produce, Paul Pallan of Talent International, Bawa Multani, Dr Sanjeev Jain, Bob Virk of One Stop, Mukhtiar Kamboj, Mohinder Johal, Satinder Johal and Gurdarshan Singh and Amarjit Kaur, TVAsia, Malkit Singh and Iqbal Samra of India Sweets & Spices, Northridge and Raaga Restaurant, Dinesh Lakhanpal and Yogi.
On August 16 Stamford, Connecticut witnessed a cheerful gathering of Indian Americans from Fairfield and Westchester Counties celebrating the 61st Anniversary of India’s Independence. Global Organization of People of Indian Origin - Connecticut Chapter (GOPIO-CT) sponsored this event at the Stamford Government Center with Stamford’s Mayor Dan Malloy as the chief guest along with PS Sasikumar, Consul for Visa and Passport and Community Affairs at the Indian Consulate, New York. The event was attended by about 300 people ranging from toddlers to seniors. There was certainly a feeling of pride and unity in the room decorated with balloons, banners and Indian and American flags.
Stamford’s Mayor Dan Malloy praised the Indian community, which is one of the fastest growing communities in Connecticut. “Some people are afraid of change. However, this country provides great opportunities to new immigrants who in turn bring their cultures and values to the American society. Celebrating countries of our origin is also an American tradition,” said. Mayor Malloy. He issued a proclamation on India’s Independence Day Stamford and raised the American and Indian flags. “As the Indian flag is raised and its national Anthem is sung, I encourage all citizens to join the Indian Community in celebrating the 61st anniversary of India’s independence”.
GOPIO-CT’s President Sangeeta Ahuja, in her welcome address, said that “The team of GOPIO-CT seeks to provide quality programs for the community. India’s Independence Day is a special time to pay respect to the freedom fighters that made huge sacrifices to bring Independence to India....a large vibrant democracy as it is today.”
Following the flag hoisting ceremony, children read the contributions of several leaders of India independence movement and other revolutionaries including Rani Lakshmibhai of Jhansi, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lal Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Pandil Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Valabhbhai Patel.
Braving rains and an inclement weather, over 34,000 Indian Americans came to participate in the annual parade, organized on
August 10 by the Indian Business Association in New Jersey with the support of the New Jersey Federation of Indian Associations. The parade was essentially a slow moving extravaganza of floats- mostly from the corporate world- banks, and insurance companies exhibiting the network and prowess of the expanding Indian-American businesses. The one-mile march on Oak Tree Road from Edison to Iselin followed by a cultural program, had among other attractions, 25 floats, a marching band, representatives from the over 90 organizations. The parade was led by Grand Marshal Mauli Dave and honored guest Roshni Chopra. Mauli Dave is the girl from Houston, Texas who went on to become the star of “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,” India’s most popular singing competition on television.
Later that afternoon, there were a variety of cultural programs at the St. Cecilia Church, with artists between the ages of 5-20 years throwing themselves into the spirit of patriotism. Also in attendance were several prominent local elected officials including New Jersey Governor Corzine, New Jersey Assemblywoman Linda Stender, Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, State Senator Leonard Lance, Assemblyman Sam Thompson, Edison Mayor Jun Choi, and many others.
“This year’s parade is the largest yet, we made history today,” proclaimed Manher Shah, President of the Indian Business Association who credited the success to the 168 volunteers who helped make the parade possible. “We are proud to be Indian and our children must know about its history. We want to make sure our children learn about India and independence of India and its culture,” he said. “The numbers are growing,” he added. The crowds came in from the neighboring states like Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and Connecticut as well as the home crowd from New Jersey. He cited Governor Corzine’s recent Executive Proclamation officially recognizing the parade. “Today is a reminder that our community is united with common purpose,” said Mahesh Shah, the immediate past president of the IBA. The 61st anniversary of the Independence Day of India was celebrated at the Consulate General of India on the morning of 15th August. Consul General of India in Chicago, Ambassador Ashok Kumar Attri unfurled the tricolor and joined in singing of the national anthem with the colleagues of the Consulate, representatives of the Indian Public Sector Undertakings based in Chicago area, big Indian Corporate Houses in Chicagoland and their family members.
Consul General Attri then read the message of the President of India to the gathering. In his remarks, he highlighted the major developments relating to the relations between India and the Mid Western States of USA during the year and the activities of the Consulate. Following a short cultural programme, light refreshments were served to everyone present.
BY AJAY GHOSH
