The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e

Vol.5 | No.25 | October 6-L2,2O12 | 60 Cents

j o u r n a l i s mNew York Editiou I Folllow us on I E E t

't'heSout:hAsian'I'imes,inlo

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Advani leads a deleuation to UNI

gJP stalwart and former Deputv Prime Minister L.K. Advani isvisiting New York as head of a delegation of political leaders to

the United Nations. A public reception for him is planned byOverseas Friends of |JP on Oct 7 at TV Asia office in New Jersey.

He arrived with his wife Smt Kamla Advani and daughterPratibha Advani on Oct 4 and was received by OFBJP members-

By Vikas Girdhar

N€w York: hr thc two days sincean estimated national audierce of67 mill ion viewcrs watchcd MittRomncy pull hardcr than PrcsidcntObama in tho first debatc's tug-of-war, thc immcdiatc aftcrmath hasbccomc thc focal point

Almost unanimously, thc scorcr c a d " l - 0 " i n f a v o r o f t h cRcpub l ican cha l lengcr byWcdncsday evcning While ana-lysts, cxpcrts and mcmbers of bothparties would agrcc that Romncywas on thc offcnsivc and simplymorc cngagcd in the Denvcrdebato, the Presidcnt's hapless pcr-formancc gavc way to somc much-necdcd good news fo r thcDcmocrats on Friday

Thc national uncmploymcnt ratcfell to 7 8o/o, marking thc first timein 44 months-since 2009-that itdipped bclow 8%. Ironically, thccurront rate is thc samc as whon thc

Mitt Romney in a lovial mood aboard his plane dayafter the debate, which he dominated, securing a shot

in the arm for his sagging campaign.

Prcsident f irst took officc in dcbatc with a rally in Dcnver, inJanuary 2009. This could provc to which hc was much morc energeticbc a huge boost in thc ratings for and fired up than in his showing aPrcsidcnt Obama in thc onc month day carlier He also used thc oppor-lcading to the elcction and is tunity to cxplain that Romncy dur-cncouraging in the wakc ofthe first ing the debatc was not consistcntdcbate w i th h is p rev ious ly os tab l i shed

Tlrc Presidcnt followcd up thc Coutinued on puge 6

New York: lndia's Extcrnal AffairsMinistcr S.M. Krishna asscrted inhis address to thc UN that Kashmirwas an in tcgra l par t o f lnd iaKr ishna and took umbragc a tPakistan making an "unwarranted"bid to raisc thc issuc at thc worldbody,

"Our principlcd position on thcissuc has bccn cons is ten t and iswcll known," Krishna said asscrt-ing "Thc peop lc o f Jammu andKashmi r havc chosen and rea f -f i r rncd thc i r dcs t iny repcatcd lyth rough Ind ia 's wc l l es tab l i shcddcmocratic proccsscs,"

Conlinued an puge 6

Foreign minister SM Krishnawith lndian ambassador to UN

Hardeep Puri.

President Barack Obama at a Denver rally after the first presidential debate.He got a boost Friday with unemployment dipping to Z.B%

In collaboration withAIA-NY, The South Asian

Times brings youa 3}-page special section

celebrating theSilver Jubilee Diwali MeIaat South Street Seaport in

New York on Oct 7.

Meet our people

lndus American lTlankIt feelsjust tike famity.

Indusamericanbank.com

Hicksvi l lc I Iscl in I Jcrsey Ciry I Parsippany

Hicksvillc Branch: 5 ) 6 -822-80t\ 1

ftltl3r.I 'fristate 38 I {JS Elections 39 I Astrology 43 Spiritual Arvareness 44 erce//er'rte aa laazza&:on

As the AIA-NY's f lagship Deepavali Festival at South Street Seaport in Manhattanhits a milestone this year with i ts 25th edit ion, i ts President Ranju Batra is readyto stage a bigger and better celebration. Charismatic and dynamic, she is set tooutshine the 2011 Diwali mela she too helrned creditably, which was acknowl-edged by The New York Times to have attracted 200,000 Tristate denizens, thelargest Diwali event in North America.

The much awaited Fireworks at the October 7 event, supported al l along by AirIndia, are sponsored now by the State Bank of India. The spectacular show wil llight up the skyline over East River. Ever since Macy's July 4th fireworks moved tothe Hudson River, the AIA f ireworks are the only one seen by mil l ions of NewYorkers in the five boroughs.

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Message of r IA-NY Pres:Historv Mar

Hello friends.

Association oflndians in America was founded in 1967, md is the oldest Indim-American organization, It was 25 yearsago, md the yer was 1987: AIA-NY's frst Diwali took off at the South Street Seaport, with the D]wali Fireworks sponsoredby Air India - a New York city lmdmilk event - fireworks on the East River, whioh are seen by millions of New yorkers.This yer's Silver Diwali festival extravagaua is on Sunday, October 7th, except that the Diwaii Fireworks tre now spon-sored by State Bank of Iadia, under the able leadership of country head Shankaian Chmdramouli, aided by cEO-Ny 3ujirKumr Varma md VP R.S. Ramesh.

This vibrant gathering helps to advance understanding md appreciation oflndim culture aod onhanoes the closeness be-tween the United States and India. The rioh cultrue and haditions of India tlat ar6 time tested and people relished are relovmtto ou young people to hav€ a better moral compass, grouding of identity md pride of mcesby. Diwali celebration servesthose important goals. Otherwise literally, Diwali is the triumph of "good" over "wil," and is thr rtu.t of th" Hiodu New yer.

This year, I know that Silver Diwali 20 12 will be like no Diwali before, as ou speoial sponsors md our dear personal frionds answered the call of history to make the 25thDiwali celebration better than evert In fact, I was so enthused by the moment that I doubled down and took on the added task of having a pre-Diwali Reoeption ancl Dinner atThe Pierre on October 6th to oelebrate in the Wedgewood Room with those speoial people who have partnered in history making itself- and I give them ny heartfelt thanks,

Core to the specialness, ofhistoric proPortions, is the august presenoe ofour most dear and revered friends celebrating this Silver Diwali - H.E. Hardeep Singh pui and H.E.Abdullah Hussain Haroon, both members of the United Nations Secwity Council, along with Assistant Seoretary General of UN Women Lakshmi puri. Beaiing witness areHon. Prabhu Dayal, md India's D.P.R. Manjeev S. Pwi. My husband, Ravi says that thisjoint celebration ofDiwali serves to eDlance the peace-trajectory of 1.5 billion peopleofthe Sub-Continent, and makes the world safer. I say: Agreed; civilization at its best.

To balmce this intemational heavyweight tem ofhistory making diplomats ofthe highest order, ae Amerioa's finest, and close personal friends - Members of CongressEliot Engel, Carolyn Maloney, Greg Meeks and Yvette cltrke, with added help fron Senators Ruth Hassell-Thompson and Adriano Espaillat, Assemblyman Nick perry, Coun-cilmembets Dan Hallorm and Tish James., Mayors Emie Davis and Harry Anand, and County Leader John Gulino, to name a few. And for tle final word, from the world oftruth-seeking and merit-basedjustice, be it ttre People represented by prosecutors, suoh as DA Tom Zugibe, or the Perry Masons ofour time, members ofthe noble bench presidesupreme to cause a "...more perfeot union" and bring constitutional fteedoms to life for all.

The team ofheavyweight sponsors is itselfa drem team; indeed, it is incredible like Sujata Thaku's "Inoredible !ndia." From State Bmk oflndia, Stu plus's Rajan Singh,Bmk of Baoda's Dhimmt Trivedi, Bank of India's B.B. Joshi, Toyota, MoDonald's, Air India's Riwo Norbhu and Amit Ray, New York Life's Srinivas Ranga, Sahra One'sSudhir Vaishnav, TVAsia's HR Shah, ITV's Dr. Viswanath, Jus Punjabi's Penny Yogiraj md Karl K.hmdalavala, India Abroad's Rajeev Bhambri, The South Asim Times'Kam-lesh Mehta, News India Times' Dr. Sudhir Parikh, The Indim Express' Sunil Hali, The Indim Pmorama's Prof. I.tl. Saluja, NRI Today, Zee TV's Subhash Chan&a and SureshBala Iyer, IndiaAmerica Today's Tejinder Singh, Saavn.com, Radio Asia, Easy 96, and R.adio Dil,

I'm grateful to my Executive Committee, each and every one ofthem for their effort. I am thanlful to the past Presidents for their guidance md advice. As for my family whoassisted me at all hous of the day md wee hous of the night: my daughter, Angela Batra-Mujal, md her disming smile, and son-in-law, Tarun Munjal, who worked tirelissly;my son, Neal Batra who tan around executing and effectuating every task I assigned; my colleagues at the Law Fim who aided md abetted my 50103 chritable efforts with asmile; md lastly, my deu husbmd, Ravi, who is the greatest pinch hitter I am always lucky to have.

All this I m delightod to say was not enough. To pay homage to the community we all seroe and live in, with equal aocess to the Anerican Dream, I acknowledge thesupport of important Jewish organizations such as Smz Medical Center in Netanya Israel, Met Counoil on Jewish Poverty's Willie Rapfogel and Jewish Commmity Rela-tions Counoil's CBO Michael Miller. Also received is a message of support from Hon. Vijay K. Nambiar, acting Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict ofthe uN SG Ban Ki-moon.

Accordingly, I, as president ofthe AIA-NY, during the special Pre-Diwali Reception and Dinner at The Piene, assisted byAmbassadors Hardeep Singh Pui and AbdullahHussain Haroon, proudly bestowed our "Silver Diwali Bright Light Award" to Rep Eliot L. Engel, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney md Rep. Gregory W. Meeks for distinguishedsenioe in the Unit€d States Congress and principled support ofthe Indian-American community's setrice to ou nation, pursuit ofhappiness and unfettered access to theAmerican Dream.

Finally, the moment is here and now, md with all my heart I wish each and every one ofyou a very Happy Diwali and a life firll ofjoy, health and blessings!

Daled: Octoher 6, 2012

Silver Jubilee AIA Diwali Mela/

i F q k w F k d h

I O.&. rc12

\, * I,oy1,* ,on behalf of myrcollques ol the P4honent Mijsion of Xndlo to the United

Mtloru od on ny ni beholt I *lsh ny fcllow Idiod rn New yofk. ove'y hdppydd 3ecessful Diel{ cclebrotions

2 I w@ld dlro llke 1o tqke thls oppoftqily to @mplemat th. Asslorton ofIndrore itr lncricd (AIA), for rhel. fadfdr cohnunchr to owtre the DtwollFlr.worb - y.or qfte. yeor nnce 1987, ladlry rnccEifully hro ric 25lh strotshryed - thc '9llvcr Dleli UsA €xtrov$ro ot ihe Sdfh St.e€r s@p.t, o ev.ni*hrch wlll catqhly d."Fn derst@dhg od oppre.htion ot hdlon culrue odfdtlvitl6 ln thc Uniid Stat6

3 rr rhr olddl ^rsocloiim of hdlds h Anericq, AIA-Ny h6 &ccajfutr.Feqid tha hopes ond ospirotlNof ihdsct.dlq ihmlgronrs whod. unri.d byrheh coarcn bod of Idlo herilry d An..icdn rdele Ii hd olso phyed osteUor rcle h fhoriryos.ns€ of alt!.olldqrlif d fost.rlng prldcMgd thehdlo cohmunity od yolr cffods li thts dlr€cild suppd hve bcq o sr.e ofencoumgemHi fof ihc wida Indlo iherl.on .ohMlty h rhe U5 od d6sve

4 I wrsh both ih€ evenls, rk slrva Dieoli UsA Fe$ilvol dd the AondRe..pllon d Atrrds Nlght, d lrupqdous ssc.s3 Widhiq ihe rssociotld ofhdrtus rn lherl6. iir h.mber6, r@od!ru ot thrcJourdl d oll oq Jelbw Indldi l.US,o v€ry hpryod prospqout Dlwolri

l . ^. ^. ^7, - ,1. y@,s dncifdy.' I 'h' i';':-'(H.s. F6-D .

tuld.nt, tu rreloils of ldldE ln Amdco1€, kxl€td Aw,

Pernunent Mission oI PakistanLo the United Nat ions8-East, 65th SlreelN ew York, ]\1Y- I 002 IPhone: (212) 879-8600Fa* (212)7447348SepteDber 28. 2012

Dc!rItaritr,

My hcuil Dgmnrtirions oD hcildi,rg thc comm0niry rcrvirics for thccurcnl ycu but i b rhc D'vltj cctcbrdtrons arc bcing snpcNiscd by yoil for thc

OD thc auspicioils cclcbmrion of Djv0ti whcn Lord ltnrnr breughr brck Sitr nnd Lakshrnnilil fio,n al4yc i l cx i l c , thc rcwns! joyonscc lcbrn t ionby thcpcop lco fAyodha. . j .hcy i thDina{cd ihcK j t rgdonr

wilh conIotr diyas r[d firccmckcrs wcrc cxplodcd.'t.htrs lhc nnnrc Dccpvali In Siloskritwhich mcnns''row oflnilps". l hc Innps arc lir all ilighr in wcll clconcd hoilscs, thc goddcss Lrkshmi u thus wcl_

comcd ths niglt aDd firccrnckcG scarc nway rhc cvjl followcN oflhc dcjnon KiDg I{nvaoa.l t was on lh is n igh l th i l t thc g r rn r J f l in Mrh0v im i r 527BC a |a incd .moks t r 'o i .D innna, .

Unknown ro rnany pcoplc thc cclcbrarion t0$s ilrc dnys..t.hc lndi0n commtrtriry snds iis HiN{ dily ofthc f in0nc iA l yc0r on thc s t i ln o f th is fcs t i va l c i l l l cd . ,DI rDtc ras" . OD thc Scco ld day c i l l l cd , .NdraKt rChat t rdas i "wh jchm0rksrhcv .nq t r i sh ingof rhcdcmot r . .Naraka ' ,andrhcrvorsh ipo fLnkshmi isobscracd on "Arn0vnsyn" thcl hild dflX whcn shc bc$ows wcalth flnd bcduty to ril in cclcbrarion oflhc v rnqu ish ing o f thc Bn l i dc rnon lo . .p i l {a ta" on rhc |ou(h doy c i l i l cd thc . .Knd ik i l ShuddaPildynmi". Oil rhc Finh day of"yrmn Dvihyn", sisrcs calt ilpon brothcm ro vrsit und mnkc thc fimily(ics ilrongcr

_ ltr ril cvlnls Divrli is il "loufdc forcc". t hc good god t{ilmn rctrn)s to hrs fcoptc bri,rgitrg luck nild

plctrty lo 0ll. ljvil itr tfic spirit ofllnvililfl, h*mnkd ilnd Bnh ilrc rcfininutcd flnd Lnirtrnt U"iw" *"unlnnd hilppitrcss (lnn thcrc bc il bcrtcr firhrrc for Inilnkind thfln whilt Divnti brirgs to thc world

j yours stncqcly,I

\ 4,lt/to,u-(Abdu l luh Hussn in H i l rcon )

Ambnssador & Pcim0trcni llcprcscntativcMr llnvi tsolm, lisq;Ihc Bnlrn tsuilding,142 LcxirglonAvcDtrc.

Ncw York , NY-100 l6

s r r i l ( n \ r $ Y r ) k koFtrct: ot ttl t'rill: ( o\tPtRou Dfl

I l0 s rA | i s t r l

RaDju Bah, Prcaidcnt

Astuciatiol ofLdiails in Amot ica142 Lexinglon Alenue

NewYork ,NY 10016

Dqrfricndsl

Gr€ctings to all th0ss 8a0crcd thls weckend for thoCilnd Rscption & Award Night kicking off tlrc 25rh AmuatDiwali licstival hostcd by rhc Ncw York Chdplcr of rhcAsocjalion of lndi0ns in Amcilca Sincc 1967, thc natiomlAIA hrs wo*ei to suppod the advancementofpeople oflndianderenl i[ lhc unitcd Snilos, lo prc\crvc and shtrrc tlc richpromoE cultudl diveBily ed social hmony

Ocrobcr6,2012

lndinn hcri4gc, flnd to

Traditionally markilg the beginniilg of the Hiildu New Yor, Diwali is ancxulErant @mmunal celcbBrion of the tiumph of good ovcr cvil Since thc Nca york

Chapter of lhc Assciation of lndians in Americe in6titutcd fte Diwali Feslival hcrc in1987, thc cvcnl has groM sd flouished, now anfrctitrgsomc 200,000Foplc@ch ycar.The SilvcrDiw6li Fcstival will on@ again fcature p€rformilc€ssd cxhibitions oflndiancullue, dslicios Soulh Asid fmds, a ohildrcn's lhir and Lhc cverpopulu lueworksdisplay In addition to sponsoring cultml 0vcntc that build solidflrity, AIA undctulcs arangc of education and youth development initialives, miscs f0nds for dhaser reliefandwonhy chnrities in Indin sld New Yod(, and adv@ates for civic engagemBnt and $undpub l icpo l i c ies , Theded ica ledof l i ce6 ,bo0rdandmembcBof r lEA$Nia t ionof lnd idsin America's Ncw Yo* Ch[ptcr arc honorihS cheriAhcd tmdi[ons 0nd hclDing build omorc inclusivc, hernonious society

Besl wishes for ajoyful elebr0lion and mndnued succs

Thomas P DiNapoliSbteConrpboll€r

0on$esd ot tbe dniteb Stntedpoudo ot n4rdcntntilcd

ELIOT t. ENGEL

Oiloh ?,2012

To My Dq fnrnd RnjuDdd Md lk Astrtion oftndims n Aocdaj

Co@ruhrbBrode AshrioDof hdim! h^mniqScoB6t Indian- ncrtsnor8o'iarion, nowebbdting ils45" y.d, md byou6 is prsid(nr,

Ilii ako ttro SllvnbivcMryotrtu AtAk ccbbntioi of Drdiwhich ildcd in 1987or lhc S.:oilh Srer tupa dSa firccotu dhphy ddtus Un rsng omudty wid somczw,uw rPrdn.ndrn8.

Diwili celcbnlc! lhc lduoph ofsdo$.vit and ts growin8cchbErion hw bftnhcrcv id€neof dE i rcMs in t lbsh teecnhd 'aMdMcr ica As ; l i teNhhro f rhcArAyouffilcc E ib Culul Chdr phyd s vihtDh h fic gDMh ottu Dtlatiahbntions,

. Sh( rourM,vdhNcwYo* in t975. )ou luvcJccpty rn \o lved)o(s t f ;Urc ld ru .^mcf,cb coDndly,31 3 mcilh, ofdE BondotTcrks fortc llndu Cend, ud wdkilgwnhrh6 ArynSmaj ofVsrchsrcrMd Childrcn's HoF dqnoNhunS your@mnih.hr.

Your qo*:n th plilrcdl sccrordr rt tcKh, Md fril cJtrnt ed drg,osoBnvdioN hs!l$ edMed IndiorhqiM li6

Mysh@6r @.8mNktioN to bl! Bddtrd th AsciaLionof hdius ih ̂ nodcaior lhetrcconditucnk, hft 0chicvd md to come

Silver Jubilee AIA Diwali MelagT(lf tf,T XEFf

an*

M,UI$AC,T| otn duligliled rc lqlm fior ihc Associntion of hrdians in Anrcrica tAlA) is

lhe Aonuol Dilwli Mcla on 7Lh Ocrobcr 101: !l rhc South SrrccLS.6po'1, liver sincc lhc fidr Diwsli oryanised by dre AIA.NY ar llte Sotrth StccrScoporl in 1087, nrillk'ns of Now Yodic$ hFvc bacn wirncssirg ilre DiwaliFircworks oD rhc llGL lllv.r yetrr ifrcr ,ror Thc Dhnli hti\,ol whicb nroks ilrclhrmp[ ol "good" ovet !'evil", a(mcrs rhoilsords ol visirors c\rry ycsr snd horhclpcd {dv![cc undcsranding nnd aDprccintion of Indiiln cuhurc qd cn]nilccclosengs betrrron lhc tjnircd Srorci xnd lhdio Ilris yur, thD AIA-NY iscclcbr0ting lho Silvd Jubil.c ofthc Di$nli flsrivnl

| \yonl(l 6ho likc to lckc lhis opparunity to uppl0ud lhc outstondhtg rvorldonc by Ms, Ranju Buld sirce shc l@k over rs I'ffiidenl of AIA on Jum 13,:01 l, As a lilc trrcilb€r of AlA, ghc hld b{an ils Cuhuml Chnlr for seveml years.playin& s vital role in the lighly-cclchrolcd onruol DivRli pro8@ ql No\v Yo*'sSoulh Slrct Ssporr.

I congrrNlatc Nls, Ranju llhrilr and all lhe 0th.r olllcc bc(raF oflhc AIAon ttc occosiDn ol lhe Silvcr Jubilce ol thc Dhr0li cclcbrslione al Sourh S@elSeton ond $ish Lham oll success jnresrdto rheircildeavouE,

l' ̂ t,l'n^*"7'4' (l\abhu Dayul) l/CoDsul Cencml ofhldia

T f E C r r Y o F N E w Y o R KO F i l c E o f l t E M ^ y o FN E W Y O R K , N Y I O O O T

Dcar fiioilds:

.- Il is a g@r plca$rc to wclconrc cveryonc to rhe A$ociatioil oflildi0trs ir AnFrjca's25 AmualDiwelifcslivrl.

@rmuilitic6,

On bcholfofall Nsw Yorkcrs, I olnr my bcsr w$h€a lor a rmjfic lcstivat trDd aIlappy Diw6lll

f Hri I l lr)r-t(j at)vor]liil; l,ot{ t t il cil v ( )t Nt;w yotl\

I bil i lgs [c lrcil Dlcrs0r lo iojn l lc Asoqli l]or ot hrlhN h Ahrcilcr tr cotubmtnrg i lDlr 25'Ail i lMl DtryilUSAloiivtrl lhiiviuMt gtrtlmnrgl4ltshilvrncuuJcrji lrthrg6nd

.pUcoitrrlonof l i l iNcoluh0n{lcnh.rccsthcqlogskrnorttc UrlcdShlcrtrtrd ti l i0

Tho Aechrion ollnliars h AdNriq \hs qhblidrd lr 1967 \lh n 6inttc nnsioil to cnnEiltr l c i l ' n n o h d h h . n f i s c d r d r n o [ n t r c n t r t r n i h r r ' F d r . ! q 4 0 y c n c , i l r c I s s r n t i o r o t '

lnlin$ h AilEr i i l 'a coilccn.d i teLf Nt[ (hc sochl \Nlftrc of l i ldrNs lr i lr Unncd Shtcsilr i l [c]t ' i l l l lcn N(onr pr r oftDlbrud r rs iuilr l l lc lhrorUI shrilnbtr, rd$il ioMt, irdc i l l h d t r c r i v i l i c s d w c l l 0 e h c i l i t o l c d . o i n i l i D t ( i i o n o f t . o o F r n i o i l o r o D g ( r c p a r t c o f

hdio hcrilogc Nodd\v dc

I,lensc rccqt i ly hsr {ish60rd (holclf lncd cotrC.otri lolioN on t[k vcry {ccit occasiotr

.Alb, 0<-B i l l d c B l A s i o

loblic Advoc0rc aor lrc Ciryot NcN York

.,,t,,,i.tlli:i,iii1_,, qtongreligot tteC4rlitsb $tateg

;;.;; IlJougc ot ll.clrrfurtaUbr!lclbltrrgtoil. E( loili- lrl r

oc tok t7 ,2o t2

The AMcisLionotlndiaDs in AmorlcaI 42 Loiln$on AvenuoNewYo* ,NY 10016

To all dbfrlends and ssppnotsoffrcAssooiotion oflndians in Amoricol

I aD d6llghtedlo s.nd my bswkhos to Thc Asociation oflndims in Amcri@ (AIA)on rheocc .s ionof l [€25 'bnu lD lwa l lUSAF6t iv0 lnd GEndRecop l ionrdAwardNigh i l 1hhtutlvnl h d spcolai NwYork tmdilion dr!! is dwoys cogedy edcipot d ond atrcnded by about200,000pcoplo frcn60 bltulcarco. AtSis impotuilthilsbnc, I congr0rulseAhaDd my gsdftiend lnd AIA Pmsid.nt Raqju Bo&0, on 6e orgorlation's r€mdklblc @hiovomcnrs in cultursl snd

Foundcd in l96?,A lA is lhoo ldc$hcr ienasoc is l iono f lnd ionc TheNewYorkchap(orhasagowinganddlve6€membeBhilrcprcsnfin8nllreglotrandrciigionroflndio tb@mmihcnitocommunity involvchent andculturdl connccdon irrofl@td h Ah's ootivnics, inctudingfundmiding forvictims of dldc! in hdio and Amcrjcs, Fliti@l @(ivbmotrotu, and sponsoEhipofcducadotrcoilcrcn@s and prosmms, Thc AhNcwYorkolaprorpotromscounilos aots ofpubticscfli@ drd philMtuopy in @ordrnc€ klh ib moko,',tndtan tterhdge ond Arnedcan commitm€nt."

D iwo l i , lhe l :e$ iva lo fL ighrs ,bace lebmt io i lo f i l r cv ic io ryo fgoodovcrcv t l Exh ib ib ,mus ica tonddane pcdomancs,ffne food. lnd a sFoboular nr.works showFovide fun foroll sg*. 'Ihe

Diwali l€$iv6l will.ducdl.Now York.ru obour howthis impotun!cultoml cvant h cel.bElcd byditrcrcnLreligious grbups ih India Md inspke anappreololtonofilc richncss ofSouthAsisncutruF

Iamproudbso lu teUeAlAon i ls25 t iannus le l .b rs r ionofD iwa l i Io f fe rmyw0mesrwishesbPresidcnl 80trd, AIA suppn€B, lnd Diwoli Fc$ivsl atun&sftrsuccc$ thbudourthe y6ar$Ring lhe hdian community n' New York City dnd frc 6urcundingtd{hre arcEt

l l i n " ' " r ' ' l , i I. , . . , , , , , r t , , .

CAIIOLYN I. MAI,ONEY

NEW JERSEY GENERALASSEMBLY

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AsociailotrolldjdDsnrANcrica,lrr Ocrobort,2ot2

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Ranju Batra : Lighting up NewYorkUshered in as AIA-NY President in the middle of last year, she is now ready to best the Diwali mela

she helmed lastyear, this being the silver jubilee year of AIA's Diwali celebrations.Y o r k e r s i n t h e f i v e b o r o u g h s o fManhat tan , S ta ten ls land, Brook lyn ,

Queens and the Bronx While the day-long rnela is free to all, there is an invite-on ly spec ia l f i reworks v iewing p laza ,w i th d inner fo r some 500 prominentinvited dignitaries and guests.

Excitedly enumerating the highlightso f the mela , Bat ra ment ions tha t theGrand Media Sponsor, Star Plus is hold-ing the Main Bhi Star Contest on-siteContestauts wil l audition opposite actorsfrorn the popular TV channel from IndiaTwo talented winners wil l be flown toIndia to appear in a show on the leadingIndian channel for farnil ies

" T h i s y e a r w e a r e c e l e b r a t i n g o nOctober 7th where we take Pier l6 & l7and 4 city blocks. We have two stageswhere we show c lass ica l , Bo l l ywood,folk, rnd fusion dances Sweta Keswani,who has acted in rnany TV shows suchas Ba Bahu aur Baby, wil l be the emceeon the main stage Among local talentyou wil l also see performance by JustDance finalists," she says.

Children especially can look forwardto the 'Kids Zone,'which has been spon-sored fo r the f i rs t t ime The Bank o fBaroda has come forward with this spon-sorship

"We have many, many activit ies forthern f ro rn co lo r ing . pa iDt ing t -sh i r r ,pa in t ing d iyas , rnag ic show, jugg le r

slrow, cartoon characters, cottou candies,popcom, spray palnhng, games, Jumpingcastle ," says Batra

While children remain engrossed in the

Rdnju BatraGraeful, charis matic, dyna mic

A s the Assoc ia l ion o f Ind ia rs in

A A r n e r i c a - N e w Y o r k c h a p t e r ' sI l f lagsh ip Deepava l i Fes t iva l a tSouth Street Seaport in Manhattan hits amilestone this year with its silver jubilee

celebration, much of its credit wil l go toits current president Ranju Batra, whohas been assoc ia ted w i th the organ iza-tion for years now, heading its Cultural

Chair for a decadeThe evenl this year, as Batra prornises.

wil l only get bigg€r and betterBatra has l ined up many crowd pull ing

events at this year's Diwali mela, expect-ed to be visited by maybe over a hundredthousand people Fireworks, the staple ofthe event , i s be ing sponsored by theState Bank of India for the first tirne and

will l ight up the skyline over East River

Star t ing a t sundown around 7 .15 . the

spectacular show will last for about 20-

25 minutes Ever since Macy's July 4th

fireworks moved to the Hudson River,the AIA Fireworks on the East River arethe only one seen by mill ions of New

Ranju Eatra giving her address atAIA Deepavali Festival 201 Z on Octobel 2.

activit ies moms have the oplion ofeither to olher cultures, being an antidote toshopping or getting 'Mehandi'done at violence, is a sure way to enhance har-no-charge right rrext to the 'Kids Zone ' mony in society

"'Ihis year Toyota Cars too will be par- Batra elaborates, .,My rnission throughticipating for the first t ime and you'l l see the Diwali mela and other AIA activit iesToyota cars on display for anyone 1o is to bring Indian culture to tlte lnain-check out," adds Batra. strearn, to help the community come up

The food stalls wil l offer multiple and reach the pirnacle, and bring IndianIndian cuisines and as always are expect- and American cultures closer in a mutu-ed to do roaring business. Meena Bazar ally respectful way "wil l have trinkets and other stuff that One agenda she has been working on iswomen fall for "People can look for to make presentations and give culturalfreebies from our sponsors, Incredible perfomances at city schools one by one!ndia, McDonalds, etc," says Batra to create awareness about tlte culture and

She believes that the Diwali mela is a festivals of India The Japanese and theperfect vehicle to fanril iarize others with Chinese have already been doing that,lndian culture and rnores, and exposure she points out There is no time to lose

AIA-NY President Ranju Batra (middle) with lndia's Ambossador lo the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri and Congresswonan CarolynMaloneyonJu ly29,20 l2announc ing thenewf i reworkssponsor ,S ta teBankof lnd ia , rep lac ingAi r lnd ia SBI was

represented by (to her right) Country Head Shankaran Chandramouli and Sujit Kumar Varma, CEO, NY.

and it is best to start with young, ilnpres-sionable minds.

She has also striven to keep AIA rele-vant and vital In her own words: "I wantto bring the whole young generation toAIA and will like them to take leader-ship role For the purpose, we are talkingto relevant organizations with youngmembers, as well as young profession-als." She also endeavors to have month-ly seminars where young people woulddiscuss issues related to the Indian con-munity and how to bring their cultureinto the mainstream.

Ranju is also very excited about the

"Diwali stamp" and to make it a reality,she said her full energy as AIA-NY pres-ident is going to raise awareness andgarner support from across America tohave everyone sign a petition in favor ofthe D iwa l i s tamp so as to push theUnited States Postal Seruice (USPS) toissue a stamp honoring Diwali, a com-mon festival for Hindus. Jains. Sikhs andBuddhists. Ranju credits her dear friend,Congresswornan Carolyn Maloney asthe primary sponsor of the Diwali stamp.

Batra's zeal for making a difference inAmerica with civic, cultural, and polit i-ca l ac t i v i t ies i s t remendous. She hasbeen involved in various organizations,including being on the Board ofTrusteesfor Hindu Cenler, as well as playing anactive role in Children's Hope and theAsian Pacific Islander cultural body.

Ranju and Ravi Batra called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapatithavan, New Delhi on Auaust 25, 20t Z.

being. I 'm lucky that she is my wife, adedicated mother with limitless love andtireless energy, a thorough professionalwho pays attention to detail, and has anunquenchable thirst for knowledge Infact, whenever we are going away, be ita road t r ip o r across the wor ld , shebrings along her New York Times clip-pings collected for future reading; andthey run the gamut from science to food,b iomed ic ine , bus iness , Iaw, domest icpolicy, economics, foreign policy, fash-lon, restaurants and space exploration. Inthat sense, she is l ike my late parents:always reading, always leaming. I couldsay much more, but then I wouldn't beobjective," says Ravi Batra.

"As AIA's Cultural Chair, she broughther administrative abilities frorn the lawfim to harness the power of culture andto maximize its exposition to all. Great,bu t guess what the cos t was . Ran juworking away into the wee hours, nightafler night and keeping the l ight on unti lshe was exhausted and per fec t ionachieved.

Once, it was so bad that she had beenup many nights, and of course, she man-aged the law finn during the day, that onDiwali mela day she went on the stage tointroduce a performance, but had novoice She then drafted others to do theintroductions and nanaged the perform-ances offstage After all, the show mustgo on ! "

Professionally, she is a paralegal andworked her way up to being an effectiveAdministrator of her husband Ravi's lawfirm.

Ran ju and Rav i have he lped in theelection of many members of the NewYork State Supreme Couft. Their suppol thas a lso been sought by mains t reamnational, state, and local polit icians, aswell as various cultural and religiousorganizations dedicated to the Indian-American community.

Besides AIA, Batra has had a long-standing foundation in different socialand charitable causes

Bom and brought up in Delhi, Ranjucame to America at the age of 19, andmanied Ravi They have two children,Neal, who just graduated law school,and Angela They live in Westchester.

"Ran ju i s beaut i fu l , hardwork ing ,always learning, compassionate, calm(well, calmer than me), with a style allher own, and an except iona l human

Another group photograph from the event at Utsav restaurant in Manhattanannouncing SBI as the fireworks sponsor at AIA-NY's annual Diwali mela.

Ranju Batra was inaugurated as President of the AIA-NY Chapter at an impressiveceremony at the lndian Consulate in New York in lune 201 l, which meant that

she had only little more than three months but she did a glorious job of organiz-ing Deepavali festival held on October 2, Z0l t.

South As ian Program

South Asian Cuisine, Mult i t ) le South Asian TV Channels at no charge, Lo(:al l ) r iests of south Asian Temples

in the are.r to I ' rovide Rel igious Serveces, L.rrge Numl)er of l )octors & St.1ft Members w,ho are Fluent Speakersof Various South Asian Dialects, Seuth Asian Newsl japcrs of Dif fcrcnt Dialccts, Joint Roplaccmont

Rchabi l i tat ion, Dialysis, lV Thcrapy & Pain Mitnagcmont, Trnchcostomy C.rre & Post Surgcry Care

.,'-hf,t^..""We're Belween Hospilol ond Home"

MASTEROFCEREMONY INDU

I]'tsM NAUD SCHOOLLivc Band Tony Mah,dcoMndhubt rMc inRadhrk i l OmnaAncrcnrAn

Mix of Bollryood & Bhilngm Bolllvood Axion

Mffiilhi Folk Dmcc NrtunDg DmccAcadcoryBhtrariyo Vidyo Bhaver

tuj Moft UppcrAsnran Niohc NMatrtun8 DonccAcadcrnytshila[ytr Vidya tshavan

Bmo Rc Mcda-OURU NananEnS DailccAcadcrny

Sd Smnnn Nma- Ashokd Nadnnmng Drncc Ac^dcmyMcdlcyofsongs PauloDil Tarrng ClnsscsXa8ffiil tsaja Paulonri IL0rg Ck$scs

Boll' vood McdlcyGunGuncuna ASnccpoth MysrcD.nccAc0dcny

Bo oo

My$'c DanccAcadcilry

Mysno DuDco Acddcn)y

Myslic DilnccAcndcmy

Bollrymd lunk NYC

GAJWANI & SHILPA JHURANI

TDACru]RS / PARTICIPAN'I SAshoka,Vcda l ,Ashwi r , V 'shd ,Anand tonyPcrfomca- Duhih Ds, Ria Mod* andAm'j Ch*rdonn/l,ootruD Phryu& UruEhic KsonPoojs Nilmog, Kcvin Dbaninm ycng Wong, Iticki aa8\vnh, SonnyJoscphAnJo0 Lin&il, ltavimj culmjaili toscph tsancil, Hclcn Morgan, ShobilaDas,Atrusha Itdo, Mildhuuriln! Sarkar, Nccsha ltdnchandaili, Vikas Sharma,OliviaCrilEths, Kristnr Cmy, Mickct0 Mailozzi, Sanuidhijaga, NoDrnaRanrchatrdan', Nishi N0ir/ I,ooja NamnsSwati Vflishilrv/ Vridchi I'arcl, Ancri L0dhani, Itja Shdr,NunnKcshrvau i md lo tha t r r lhod iy i lSwoti Vilrshnav / Auruhi Jain, HcDu KumaiTulsr Kdilu, Lipika CharurArilta Shsh Khushi lhnkkarSwori V0'shnav/l{iddhi tshan, lliya paicl,tuDra prrcl

Anrrnda 8ahck, Karcnilltoopchand SlrifrAli,Angelina LrpcnSwari Vais[n0v/ ldrd Shah, Srvcrn Shrh, AllylBhi lhakkarPaulonri /Ashr H,nri,AbccntrJoncs, hnvi Jhxvcd, rshruI Shrhl,0illomr /Shrwn Kan,AyrDuD l,ccmilr Mch0k l(ajorin. Likshya lliljoria,vcdiks hir)

Sahil Bah aildArlir) tsnh,ShilpilMithiliwah / Drpnli Chrod, l\iyil Clilild, Akshtrr, hniaNadia,Arn. SilbrinaShilpa Mithriwala / Curbrni, I{iyil, Nriya, Sashr, Shn{r, A*ilaShilpd M(hailvxh /AflDilu, Kcnicl,Arnxv, tshutr, Ashry, Aadi,Mmnaq Kavir, Sahil, Dcv, Adith.lnnushShilpa MithAilvrltr / Kishil Pilcl, Silnvr. KIshr l,rtcl, Hiy" Shrh,Isha , Ha l i Shdr Sah i lDn, N ih rm pr rh&, Nrshr Shc lhShilDr Mithaiwaln / Milnilv lrivcdi. Dcvcn, J^y, tJrhdN, Vrrutr,VihilnShilpu Mithilwaln / Hccnill. Dham, Nnqn Milhnr, Na\yr t,and0t,Soilia,ADrita Vmyr

Aycshtr/ Aycsn, Jrya SaDgodkar, Zctrobr! Dorwilh, V'cki AubiD,Shccm lhron, Shshntrk Sonml, prdtik MchhVU0yAmdhyr, An$hikr M!lik, Juhi Lnungrni, Juti0trc NicvcsItccti Bh0&hrndc, Mallikr KhaDdclwd, Akila. Sri'ilvdsru)Ashr SundaruanrilD, Aathr Joshr

tshilmri Dcsar /ADkila I'atcl,Anushln ftrcl, Sachr Pnrcl,Ashikn parct,

Janki Mcht0, SccDil lJilcl, IloshDi l)nrclArchaDil /Arymriln tshafl, Srhrnn ltinlftkhiinr, Sohil Dharid.Annslcy philD, Abhilrnv Yddilv. %nsl ChughNcha / tuj un (^p!r, Sfiayna fi achrcD. curdccp Smgh. Sln mnjit Kaur,Ishil Khuilila, Aka{h Krpur, Akshay Kapu SmjilDil ltcddy, Jasprcot SiughAnraDprccr S!nghZol / Jorcl Mcdnyil. il4ruricio HidillSo lhanca Kapadin Mairri Knnur,Scrcna Bll[hilildran, Shclby lhonrs, Srhil BaF, Aryn tsxrm,Jccvan I honlasShmnm/Shmnila SalB, PrNhanr Sn0rrn, Nrodn KrlinrmtooAtrgok' L'onzo, Dilnrcllc NicolosrS lftcy Mcghi / McSln Kn I iil, Dolly KMrlprccr N ilhr I Kndhil, Apshr Shah,PaokdJ Chosh, Nikhil Krtha &Ayushi ShahShi lF rJh i lmnr l l r ck \ i v l l c NY Srudcn6Slilpn Jhilmnr/ Ncw Hydc llark StudcursShilpaJhwni / Ncw Hydc Pilrk StudDn-Shilpa Jhurilni / Hioksvillc & New ltydc l,r* SrudcilrsJyo!,An)ccra L@na, Silmm

Stage2012

Chihi ChaDrcli

Dcsi Boys

Chamak Chirlo

Rcmix BhanSn N,lix Boys Group Mystic Dancc AcelcDryllmhi Ho Bhilndu - (@|(rdl Mystic Dancc AcadcDry

I hug LclNi N0ch Lc Mcdlcy Eollryood Funk NYC

MJ lirbutc Dcsi Stylc

D'sco Eollywood Song Bollywood Funl NYCKoi Kahc Kchra Rahc tsollywood Funk NYCDcsi tscat loAngrcji Ecar Bollryood Funk NYCAnvi Aavi Main Lut Gayn Silrtnnl Ducc Srudio

Chmcrcr Dhecla & Chilnnrilk BollyArrs

Bhangm Mcdlcy

Bolllvood Mcdlcy

Ooh hla Lalr

Aollryod Dturcc

tsol ly Ans

BollyArts

I t i lgela Dmcclroupc

Salen - Urtrmlam Ary! DmccAudcilryMcdl lcy Antrkol r Dr so t ha h A rya Drncc Acadcmy

Dola ltc Dola Arya DmceA€dcDry

MunDr Badnur &Aaj0 Nachlc Aryn Drilcc A€dcnryDucc on Kilokcc Songs

Pe ormancesDccpr ! i l l i Ch lhu r l Pcr to r x r {uccs

Oc lobcr 7 t I ,20 tzAnDrosc Snrgc I2 :J0 - 6100 p l l

Cu l l t r rn l C lu i rpo 'so t r : XcchD' i to i l ill(l S\vct{ Ku$vnDi

Deepavali Cultural

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H o n o r l n g D l a n l l r 1 1 6 r n d S p o n s o r s 6 r m

F l e t o r k D i $ l r y 7 : t s

h"ARIAN RANG DANCtrACADEMY OF BHARATIYAVIDYABHAVANThc Natsn Rang Dancc School ofBhamriyn Vidya Blnvdn has boenflnning succcsfillly in hvcw York forovcrwcnry fivc ycas

OMN ANCTl ]N] ARTOmnil ADcicilAn is a dmcc school csrablishod by S'nt cargiChartopadhyny for Sc purposc ofrcrcling rhc ancirnl lndirn danccI'ndmalaya Dancc Acadcny - Padm a | ilyr Dancc Acndcmy USA ar I 9 IS(d l ionAvco i lc Sra tcn ldand, NY 10309] t l 718 966 0155 l ta j rRrjcswd. Dirccrorcan bc rcilchcd ar raji28@aot co'n

PALOUYI TAMNG DANCESPaloum Iamtrg Danc$ flc successftrlly in New ilydc Park andForcsl Hills Wc oncr folk drrc6, basic korbak aod bollwood d0nccslo ctril&cn ovcr3 ycffi

RANGEELA DANCIi COMPANYItangceln DancD Company is bsc onvadousar6 of&ncc such aConrcmpordry, tsollywood, Jaz. African, and HipJ'op

SITAREY SUDIO - Sitmn mcmlrg "Sttrs 'srarrcd 'n 20ll is a

profc$ional studio spacc lmatcd in thc hcart oflndiil sqrurc inJcrsy Ciry

'lhis is anorhcr initiarivc ofMs Mcgha Kalia who is rhc

foundcr/ Icad chorcoFphcr of hvYC Bhongm

SADHANALAYA SCHOOL OF DAN-CE - was csr0btishod in | 993md undcr thc turclage ofCunr Smr SadhMa Pamjr i over 30 amngc-Fams hove bccn perfomcd Sadh0D0 Paranji can bercached ar sad,hanapamji@yar'oo com

o OURD CE SCHOOLSARYA INTERNATIONAL

Arya lntcrn0tional fl DtroMcd and lcading Sourh Asinn l,crfoming

Al6 instiltrtc ru thc USA

Asavafl School ofMusic aild Dancc - DirmtofGrryi can bc conrdc(dat goIg,(tasvori org Vrsit lw.Navari org TDl9l4-989.8969

BOLLYWOOD AXION.COM

Pooia N0mnds tsAX Duce Company is the fi6r ofit's kind in rhc

U S , fomcd in 2006 visit \Mv bollwooddion com

BOLLWOOD FUNK NYC DANCE COMPANY

Eollluood Funk NYC DsnccComFny is NewYoft w holly

BOLLYARTS

Bbblishcd in 206, Bollywood PcrfomrngAns is a multil0lmlacadmy Formorc isfomatioo visii w.bollyans com

LIVC BAND -TONY VAIIADEO \w.younxclusrvc @m

MUKLHAMAR I.'INDARlS

Muklhmar fincAds wos foondcd in 198? forthe purposc ofCrcaringt@ls to fostcrlcming and undcEbnding of lndian Clasical Crrhw

MYSIfC DANCE ACADD[IY

Shilpa Mithaiwals Mysilc DrnccAcodcmy lhis is mysdc dancc acade-my last fiRccn ytrs for Scmr ClNical Folk Dancc. BhatrF,Bollywooq Garba

org,lntzed hy i

f ' I-thc Association of Indians in

I Arncrica (AlA) is the oldcstI national association ofAsian

Indians in Amcrica It was foundcdin 1967 a f te r thc US Congresspasscd thc 1965-66 Immigra t ionAct, rcpcalirg thc Asian ExclusionAct o f l9 l7 I t has chaptc rs andmcmbership sprcad across thc coun-try

Thc Ncw York Chaptc r o fA IAwas cstablishcd in 1968 and is wcllknown for its social, cultural andcducational activit ics

Obj€ctiv6AIA a ins to p romotc Cu l tu ra l

D ivcrs i ty & Soc ia l Harmony l t sobjcctives includc:

. To promotc thc wclfarc ofAsianIndians in thc US arld to addressissucs o f in tcgra t ion w i th rna in -strcam Alncnca

. To promotc thc imagc of Indiain thc US by showiug its rich cultureand t rad i t ions th rough var iouscvcnts

. To cncouragc and facilitate thcparticipation of AIA mcmbers ardo thcrs in the dcvc lop lncn t andprogress of India through cha itablc,cultural and cducational activit icsand to facilitatc communication andco-opcration among thc pcoplc ofIndian Hcritagc worldwidc

AIA-NY Diwali MelaAIA-NY's annual Dccpavali cclc-

brations at South Strccl Scaport irNcw York is crloycd by closc to250,000 t r i -s ta tc res idents s incc1987 Fircworks show is thc mostaIticipatcd part of this ncga-cvcrtand is a bcfitt ing pinnaclc to thc cel-cbration of thc Indian fcstival-of-l i g h t s , D c e p a v a ) i 2 0 1 2 A I A N Y

s v c n t c o i n c i d e s w i t h t h c 2 5 t hanniversary cclcbrations of AIA,NYand will bc a grand affair:

Diwali StampAIA-NY Prcs idcn t Ran ju Bat ra

has madc it a primc objcctivc of hcrtcrm to raisc awarcncss and garncrsuppor t f lom ac loss thc Un i tcdStatcs to havc pcoplc sign a pctit ionin favor of thc Diwali stamp so as top u s h t h c U n i t c d S t a t c s P o s t a lScrv icc (USPS) to i ssuc a s taDrphonoring Diwali, a common fcstivalf o r H i n d u s , . l a i n s , S i k h s a n dBuddhists Ranju sccs hcr fricnd,Congrcsswoman Carolyn Maloncyas the primary sponsor of the Diwalistarnp

AIA-NY Comrnittcc. A I A E x c c u t i v c C o m m i t t c c

20 l l -2012 has as i t s Pres idcn t ,Ranju Batra, with 4 Vice Presidcnts:Shyam Gajwani, Dr Sunil Mchra,Sun i l Mod i and Har ish ThakkarPast Prcs idents inc ludc : SushmaKotahwala, Santosh Khcra, Arish K

Sahani, Urrnilcsh Arya.

Awarcncss Program' lnd ia Awarcncss Program in

Schools And Librarics' is an ongo-ing prograrn startcd in 2001 lt hasintroduccd in various schools andlibrarics and has bccn popular withstudcnts and familics

AIA Voluntccrs organizc a onc-hour program whiclr iucludcs:

. V i d c o s s h o w c a s i n g I n d i a ' sd ivc rs i ty , dcvc lopmcnt andprogrcss,

. Henna and Tattoos on thc palmsofvisitols to givc them a tastc ofouftraditions and dancc pcrforrnanccsto introducc thern to our culturc

o Indian food is always apprcciat-cd and Samosas arc always a hit

In thc cnd AIA prescnts thc schoolor l ib ra ry two books w i th v i ta linformation about India,

Achievcmcnts. White Housc cclcbratcd Diwali

for thc first timc in ycar 2006. Ncw York C i ty rccogn ized

Diwali in 2003,. Various cveuts and programs in

co l labora t ion w i th thc Arncr icanMuscum of Natural Llistory

. Educat io Ia l p rograms fo rAwarcncss about India in schoolsand librar ics

. Projcct India: Education pro-gram aimcd at cducatilg and eradi-cating HIV in lndia

r Cclcbration of fcstivit ics andnational cvcnts of both lndian andAmcrica fbr mutual undcrstandingbctwcflr thc communitics

Charity. P r o j c c t l n d i a h c l p s p c o p l c

affcctcd with HIV/AIDS in India Along- t imc commi tmcnt , A IA haschannclcd ovcr $15 mill ion worth ofdircct assistancc and cquipmcnt toprojccl.s and reliefwork in India

. Paticnt Carct AIA and BrooklynHospital bavc bcel sponsoring visitsof mcdical cxpcrts from BrooklynMcdical Ccntcr and havc organizcds c v e r a l " A I D S P a t i c n t s C l i n i c a lExarnination Camps" Sincc 2005,

hundreds o f pa t icn ts havc bccncxamincd and trcatcd

Raiscd funds for: rclicf of Kargilconfl ict victirns, victims of l loods inIldia (scvcral statcs), calthquakc inGujara t 2001, f loods in MidwcstAmcrica 1993, for Tsunam, and vic-tims of carthquakc in Maharaslttra,1993

Activism. Participatcd in thc confcrcncc

" lnd ia 's Ncw Econorn ic Po l i cy"Ncw Dclhi, 1996

. Po l i t i ca l awarcncss progra tnurg ing lnd ians to un i tc in to twogroups (lndian fot Dcmocrats andIndian for Rcpublicans )

. Rcclassificatioll of Immiglantsf rom South As ian Count r i cs asAsians Pacific Amcrican

. Scparatc cuumclation ofAsianIndians for thc first t imc in US ccn-sus as all indcpcndcnt catcgory in1980

. Minority Status to Asian IndianLnmigrants in 1970's

. Representa t ion bc forcCongrcssional committccs to testifyfor family rcunification provision inthc imnigration bil l

. Rcprcscntcd at fcdcral, statc andlocal lcvels of govcrnmcnts, i l cascsof bias or discrirnination against thcAsian Indians

. Represcnted on Foreign McdicalGraduatcs Commi t tcc o f AMA,effectivcly addressing the issues ofdiscrimination in recognition andlicenshrg of Indian physicians

. Votor lcgistration drivcs.

. Sponsored ongoing educationalconfcrences on telcvision regardingpo l i t i ca l awarencss and po l i t i ca lactivism, so that thc community candevclop an agenda and fully partici-pa te in Amer ican Po l i t i ca l l i1 'e ,definc it goals and safcguard itsrights (1995)

Title pages of some of the souvenirs brought out for AtA-Ny's Deepavati festival

A r l c i ^ r i o i o l t i i l i ^ s i i f u r n i . ^ .

AIA objectives include promoting the image of lndia in the US by showing its rich culture andtraditions through various events. (Photo: Jay Mandal)

Message fromAIA National PresidentASSOCIATION OF INDIANS INAMERICA, INC

National Executive Commiftee(A Non-Profit Organization founded in 1967)

PresidenlGhanshyam Pandey

3 t 2 , 4 t 3 4 5 4 0630-789-0569

Vice PresidenlsVirendra Cupta (GVC)

Naren Patel ( lL)

Sur inder Rarr)etra (NY)

Durgesh Thakur ( lL)

TreasurerLucy PaDdey ( lL)

SecrctarySal i l Misra ( lL)

MeDbes at Lnfg€D C Agrawal (NJ)Hansa Ashar (CT)

AsmitB Bhal ia (NY)

AnJano Chaudhory (MO)On Dhingrn (1L)

Uma Lninsivan) (FL)Rakesh Gupla (FL)

Indu , laiswal (N Y)Nand Kapoor ( lL)

Usha Kf,poor (NY)

Santosh Khera (NY)

Sushl l ra Kolahwnln (NY)

Maya Kriplani ( lL)

PreDr Mehrotra (lL)

S S R M e h r a ( C A )Ravi lvlehrotra (NJ)

ManoranJan Mishra ( lL)

Suni l Modi, (NY)

RaDroln Motwani ( l 'L)

Claude Moraes ( l 'L)

Beena Pnlel , ( lL)Bharal iPalkhiNala(NJ)Yogeela Purohir (DC)

Beena SabhaNnl, (NY)

Kanrlesh Saini (WI)Pune€r Saini (Wl)Shant i Tangri (NJ)

September 26, 201 2

Dear friends and nembers ofAIA,Il is with great pleasure that I extend my best wishes and greetings on

the happy occasion ofDiwal i , on my own behalfand on the behalfofthc Nalional iixecutiveConlmiltee of theAIA I afi also very happythal, in keeping wilh past traditions, the New York Chapter is celebra!iilg Diwali for the 25lh tinte at the very prestigious Soulh Street Seaponin Manhatlan area

One oflhe objectives ofthe AIA is to expose our rich cultural herilagelo the American ntainstrealn, and celebfalion ofDiwali is probably oneoflhe unique wnys lo express our herilage and showcase our cullureMany AIA chapters achieve these objeclives in seveml ways The NewYork chapter has a long and successful fi"dition olcelebrating Diwaliwilh grcat fanfare This is an ouLslanding progratn organized by theNew York Chapter and therefore I illusl congratulate Mrs Ranju BalraPresidenl, AIANew York Chapter, and menbers ofthe ExecutiveCommillee and the Organizing ComniLtee oflhe New York Chapter forpulting this prograrr togelhel I aD1 sure this program will be a great suc-cess, as ln the pasl,

Drwlai is an important social, cultural, and l€ligious feslival celebraLed all over India wilh no geogfaphical and linguistic barriers Il signifiesvictory ofright over wrong, light over da*ness, and the lriumph o[good over evil IL also signifies cquality among the people regardless oflhe socio-economic slalus, as all people cone logether and celebrate itwith great pride andjoy

The monlh ofOctober is also significant for the AIA as nany chapterscelebrate Gandhi Jayanli during this DonLh I express my best wishes toeveryone on lhisjoyous occasion,

Congratulaliotrs again,

Innrediatepaslpresidenl GharlshyarlrPandey,

Aninesh Goenkn (Ny) National President, AIA

Con€spondence Address751 9 Hamil ton Ave, Bun Ridge, IL 60527Tel 312-413-4540 Fa* 312-413-454'7

Email : Gpandey@psych uic,edu

hogramHighlightsStage One by Pier 17 wil l hallmark dance music for all ages The cultural

Classical and Bollywood dances and program will start at 1:00 p.m and theprograms The festivities will begin at masti will slowly end around 5:00 p m12:30 PM and conclude at 7:30 PM with There will be a live band and programsf i reworks Everyone w i l l have the a iTedbySAHARAONETVchance to meet the stars of Ek Dusre Se There is a separate area for chjldren.KarteHainPyarHum. There wil l be corporatebooths,raffles,

The 2nd stage on John Sheet opposite gifts and vendors selling clothing andthe park wil l be fi l led with masti and jewelry,andofcourseeateries

Message from Diwali fest Chairpersons

Sunil Modi Harish Thakkor

For 25 years, AIA -, NY Chapter haspresented New York with an extravagantand bcautiful cultural affair cvcry ycar inthe form of the Deepavali Mela at theSouth Street Seaport. T'he Mela showcas-es the wide atray ofculturc, rich heritageand e legant cus toms tha t lnd ia hasoffered to the world for centut ies.

During thc full-day cclebration fromnoon to 8pm, the audiencc witnessesnulnerous brcath-taking performancesboth ltom the genre of traditional IndianClassical music to the upbeat modernBollywood bcats, The intense amount ofenergy and passion that all performerscxh ib i t wh i le on s tagc rcgard lcss o fwhcther professional or amatcur or ageis dcfinitely a must watch and keeps thcpacc of the wholc evcnt in full-f lowRenowncd singers and actors, some localand some who fly in espccially fromIndia, also grace us with their prcsencein order to show their support and com-mitment.

This grand celcbration is meant for thcwhole family. Wc have a vcry popular' C h i l d r e n ' s A r e a ' t h a t c a t e r s t o o u ryoung gcneratlon

The area is fillcd with exciting gamesand activities such as paintings and afis& crafts. South Asia is very well knownfor its mouth watoring delicacics and wehavc not forgotton that at all Nurncrous

food stalls line up the sh.eots with tastydishes and drinks llom all ovcr the sub-continent. Other vendors and boothsinclude faditional clothing, henna paint-ing, music and many more promoting thodivcrse and rich regions and culture ofIndia. For last few ycars'Healrh Fair'has also bccome vcry popular. Since AIADiwa l i i s a lways on I s t Sunday inOctobcr, wc plan to continue our partici-pa t ion in observ ing October as the"Nat iona l Breas t Canccr AwarencssMonth" This year wc arc offering frcecancer screenings in cooperation withvolunteers and rcsources frorn FlushingHospital and Italian American CancerSociety.

Dcepavali or more commonly knownas Diwali is obscrved by i l luminatingdiyas or earthen oil lamps to celebratethc victory of good ovcr evil synbolizedmytho log ica l l y by thc re tu rn o f LordRama after 14 years in exile Diwali isthe most impol tant and cclcbrated fcst!vals throughout India Furthemore, it isalso cclebrated and observed as a nation-al holiday in numcrous countries such asMalaysia, Singapore, Suriname, Trinidad& Tobago, Guyana, Fiji and many moro.

Thc AIA is very thankful for the con-tinucd suppoft of our sponsors and corr-mits to bringing this evcnt for yoars tocome Obv ious ly to accompl ish th ismiss ion wc nced our youth to p lay amore pro-active rolc in managing thisevcnt and other AIA activitics and canythc torch forvard

We would personally like to thank andapprcciatc thc timc and efforts of ourcommittcc mcmbers, voluntecrs, vcn-dors, safety officers, sponsors, perform-ers and most prorninently our visitorsand the community for making each yearone for the books!

Shubh Deepavali & God Bless!

Message from Cultural Chairpersons

We, the Cultural Chair Persons forAIA-NY welcome you all to the 45thycar of our organization and 25th year ofour Deepavali Festival. During the lastso many years we arc proud that ourMain and Bollywood stage are gettingmore popular and we get students fromprofessional dance schools to perfom on

our platfom. We are very proud that notonly the Indian community but all localcornmunities from all part of thc worldcome together at South Strect Seaportand join to cclebratc Diwali prograrn in abig way. Our stage is for all genorationsand for thc whole family. We always getcompl iments tha t our assoc ia t lon lsdoing a wonderful job and they alwayswait for this program.

Our Ambrosc stage is sponsored byStar P lus and Bo l lywood Stage bySahara One TV We are thankful to oursponsors. Many thanks to all the schoolteacbers and the parents who have beenplaying a big role to make this event asuccess.

God Bless you all and a very HappyDeepavali and hope it brings you luckfor next year,

Neelam Modi

Glimpses of Diwali Mela 2011 under Rarrju Batra's presidencyT as t ycar Ran ju Bat ra l cd

I rhc A IA-NY rcam to ho ldIJthe succcssful 24th AnnualDccpavali cclcbration onMahatrnaGandhi's Birthday at South StrsclScaport with Air lndia sponsorcdfircworks sccn by mill ions of NcwYorkcrs,

O n t h c o c c a s i o n A I A - N YP r c s i d c n t R a D j u B a t r a a l s olaunchcd a Diwali Stamp Pctit ionDrivc to suppor tcongrcsswomanCarolyn Maloncy's national lcad-c r s h i p i n s c c u r i n g t h c S t a r n pissucd by USPS S ix p roc la rna-

tiols wctc lavishcd upon Ranju,i n c l u d i n g t l r c C o n g r c s s i o n a JRccord

AIA-NY co lcbra tcs D iwa l i onthc first Sunday in Octobcr withtcns o f thousands a t tcnd ing thcdaylong fcstival, which culminatcsm thc spcctacular f ircworks showon thc East Rivcr, sccn by mill ionsi n M a n h a t t a r , S t a t c n I s l a n d ,Br ooklyn, Quccns and thc Bronx--now thc on ly onc in Ncw York(aftcr Macy's rnovcd its July 4thfircworks to 1hc Hudson Riycr forNcw Jcrscy's plcasurc)

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney prese'nted to Ranju Batra Congressional Record commendinq her

The cultural performances and the VIP program werepacked to the gil ls.

Ravi and Ranju Batra gotRonald McDonald sign theDiwali Stamp petit ion as a

"good g loba I nei g h bor".

AIA-NY President Ranju Batra in front of the 9/l I shrine atDiwali fest last year with Mahatma Candhi's non-violenceas theme. This Diwali mela came l0 vears after 9 I I and

fell on Candhi's birth anniversaryWorld renowned vaidya Dr Pankaj Naram (third from right) posing with a group at the

Diwali mela where he gave free consultation.

The cast of Ramayan dance droma with the director, Satya Narayan Charka (fifth from left)

Glimpses ofDiwali Mela 2011

under RanjuBatra's presidency

Amb. Prabhu Dayal, Consul Ceneral of lndia in New York, speaking during the Vtpprogram hour, with some US lawmakers and lndian diplomats on the staae.

Ranju Batra with AIA-NY committee members and volunteers

John Liu, NYC Comptroller, gave a Commendation citationto AIA-NY President Ranju Batra Council member lnez Llickens also gave a citation to Ranju Batra

Amb Hardeep Singh Puri, lndia's PermanentReDresentative to the UN

Manhattan Boro President Scott Stringer signingthe Diwali stamp petit ion.

Children doing an endearing numberas parl of the cultural performances

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It wil l host mauy booth activit icsat the fest which wil l givc thc partic-i p a n t s a c h a n c c t o w i n v a r i o u sToyota-brandcd prcmiums Thcprizes also includc digital camcrasand Applc iPads for all thosc partici-pants who complctc a bricf on-sitcsuNcy

Toyota w i l l bc d isp lay iug thccn t i ie Pr ius fami ly o fcars wh ichcovcrs a broad rangc of customcrnccds and includcs thc third-gcncra-tion Prius l iftback, thc spacious andvcrsati lc Prius v, thc cfficicnt PriusP lug- in Hybr id and thc a l l -ncw,urban-fi icndly Prius c (scc box).

Namcd as onc of t lrc most fucl-elf,cicnt vchiclcs sold in thc UnitedStatcs in 2012 by J D Powcr, ToyotaPr ius c la ims to havc rccc ived thch ighcs t b rand awarcncss o f any

hybrid vehicle and cstablishcd con-sumcl trust built upon morc than 12years of provcn tcchnology.

"Toyota is honorcd to cclcbratethe 'festival of l ights' with our loyalcustomcrs in tltc Asian ludian com-rnun i ty , " shared Dav id Chung,Nat iona l Manager o f Targc tedAdvertising aud Stratcgy at ToyotaMotor Sales,

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Dusehra: Good over evil

I.-\ usehra is a popular andI lwidelv cclcbratcd Hindu

LJ rcstiuit- [t commemoratesLord Rama k i l l i ng the dcmonking Ravan and rcscuing his wifcS i ta Dusehra , a lso known asVijaya Dashami, is thc tenth dayof the Nawatri fcstival

A l l over Ind ia huge fa i rs o fDuschra arc o rgan izcd , whcrceffigies of Ravan arc burnt andpcoplc gct the mcssagc of "Goodalways wins "

In thc Southem statcs of TamilNadu, Karnataka and Kcra la ,Vijaya Dashami is also thc day ofV idyarambam (beg inn ing o fstudy) People generally worshipGoddess Saraswati,(Goddcss ofWisdom), on this day. Thc daynormally starts with worship of

books and lcaming matcrials. It iscons idcrcd very ausp ic ious tostart any form of leaming on thisday

In thc s ta tc o f West Benga l ,mar r icd womcn p lay amongthemsclves with verrnil ion (sin-dur) as a part of Duschra ritual.

Therc is also a ritual ofworship-i n g w c a p o n s , p c n s a n d o t h o rInstrumcnts that are a symbolflghting injusticc

Across North India, this timc isconsidcrcd very auspicious to pol-i sh one 's p ro l ' css iona l insnu-mcnts. Drivcrs, clean and polishthcir trucks and buscs Thcy putRoli and draw swastika on thcmThis ritual is also pcrformcd inarmy and othcr forces

Dusehru is on Oct 24,

Diwali: Festival of festivals6iwali is cclcbratcd on thc no moon night in lhc

I fHindu month ofAshwin (Octobcr/Novembcr)-U every year. lt syrnbolizes that age-old culture oflndia which teaches to vanquish ignormce that subdueshumanity and to drive away darkncss that kr:eps a vcilon the light of knowledge The festival of lights evcntoday in this modcrn world projects the rich and glor!ous past of lndia

Evcry year for days bcfore Diwali the sound of firc-cracke$ announccs thc onset of the favorite fcstival ofIndians Homcs arc decomtcd, sweets are distributed byeveryonc and thousands of lamps arc l it to crcate ahcavcnly world Enthusiastically cclcbratcd by Hindus,iains, Sikhs and Buddhists, its rnagical and radianttouoh crcatcs an atmosphere ofjoy and fcstivity. Innorth India, Diwali is the day when King Rama's coro-nation was cclebrated in Ayodhya aftcr his cpic warwith Ravan, the demon king of Lanka By order of thcroyal fmilics of Ayodhya and Mithila, the kingdorn ofwhich Sita was princess, thc cities and far-flung bound-arics of thcsc kingdoms werc lit up with rows of lamps,glittcring on dark nights to wclcome home thc victori-ous divinc king Rama and his quccn Sita aftor 14 ycarsof cxile On the day of Diwali festival, doorways archung with torans of mango lcavcs and marigoldsRangolis arc drawn with different colorcd powdcrs towelcome gucsts Thc traditional motifs arc ollon linkedwith auspicious symbols ofgood Iuck On this day, pco-plc buy something fot thc house or somcjcwelry for thcwomcn of tho house lt is auspicious to buy somethingmctall ic such as silvcr

Card partics are held in many homes Diwali hasbccome commercialized in India as thc biggcst annualconsumer spree becausc evcry family shops lbr swects,gifts and fireworks However, in all this frcnzy ofshop-ping and cating, the steady, buming lamp is a constantsymbolof an i l luminatcd mind

Diwali is on Nov 13.Dhanteras marks the first day of thc fivc-day Diwali

festival whcn Goddcss Lakshrni is worshipcd for oros.pcrity and well-bcing tt is considcrcd auspicious to buygold and silvor on this day Many pcople opt for buyingncw utcnsils on this day,

Dhsnterw is on Nov 11.Thc third day is called 'Badi Diwali, whcn pcoplc pcr-

form Lakshrni and Gancsh puja in thc cvening A cus-tom that is followcd univcrsally on this day is burstingof crackers and fi reworks

Thc four th day in Nor th lnd ia i s cc lcbra tcd asGovardhan Puja, also callcd Annakut, as tho day whenLord Krishna dcfcatcd tndra by lifting Govardhan hill tosave his kinsmcn and cattle from rain and floods.Usually 56 diffcrcnt food itcrns arc prcparcd and offcrcdto Lord Krishna on this day.

Aililukalfalls lhis J)ear on Nov 14.The fifth or the last day ofDiwali is called ,Bhai Duj'

In thc Vcdic cra, Lord Yama (Yamaraj, thc Lord ofDcath) visited his sister Yamuna (yami) who markedthc auspicious Tilak (sacrcd mark) on his forehcad,Yamaraj dcclared that anyono who receives thc Tilakfrom his sistcr on this day is huly blcsscd Sincc thattime the custom has bccn for brothcrs to visit their sis-tcrs to cclcbratc Bhai Duj and cxchangc gifts

Bhai Duj is on Nov 15.

Durga Puja: Goddess reigns supremeT\ urga Puja is an importantI lHindu festival celebrated

l-J all over India with differ-ent rituals and festivities especial-ly in the eastem region covcringthc states of West Bengal, Assam,B ihar , Jharkhand, Or issa andTr ipura In West Bcnga l andTripura, which has majority ofBcngali Hindus it is thc biggcstfestival of the year Apart fromeastem India, Durga Puja is alsocslsbrated in Delhi, Uttar Pmdesh,Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab,

Kashmir, Kanataka and Kerala lti s ce lebra ted in thc month o fSeptembor/October every yctr

This festival involves the wor-sh ip o f Shak t i tha t i s GoddessDurga The legond has i t tha tMah isasur , a power fu l demonthrough ycars of intense prayingand worship got boon from LordBrahma that no power could himmaking him invincible But oncethc divine powc6 wcrc bcstowcdupon him, he started ravaging thewhole world and kil l ing people

and eventually wanted to uprootthe Gods too

The Gods, in dismay, combinedtheir powers to create a beautifulmaiden, and each placed his or hcrmost potcnt wcapon in onc of hcrten hands r id ing a l ion . Durgak i l led Mah isasur and won theheaven back fior the Gods.

On the tonth day of the Pooja,that is, the day ofVijaya Dashami,ido l o f Goddess Durga isimmened into thc nearby river orlake, by the devotccs

t / i l i i : . ' t P l t l ! ' t t ) i * r t ) , t ! : j r t 7,.t i i :': :: Q-t\,i 11 ;J I I il f i lt j ii | ! i rt 7 .l u - ! ' , i "t _ it:t,: l i T 1l- i l : i ' l -7' ig!)

Diwali with much gustoIn A lwar roya l ry in good o ld

days thc palacc was lighted wirhcarthcn lamps on Diwali day andths rulcr would pcrform thc LaxrniP o o j a n i n t h c C i t y P a l a c c ' sRaghunath Mandir Thcn hc wouldvisit all thc local tcmplcs and offcrp raycrs Thc tu lc rs wou ld cc lc -bratc Chhoti and Badi Diwali andou Dhantc ras , thc ru lc r wou lc lwcar ncw clothcs and would buys i l vc r and go ld and a lso s i l vc rutcnsils from thc local marchants

" Grcat prcparations wcrc madcand thc palacc rcccivcd a faccliftbcforc Diwalr

Thc rnahara ja wou ld pcr fo rmpuja irr thc prcscncc of thc mcm-bcrs of thc famJly and aftcr thc

puja would givc gifts and tips tothc fanily membcrs and rctinuc ofstaff and thcn thc royal mcmbcrsof thc family would join for f irc-works," says Jai Singh Rathore,who is associatcd with thc Alwarroyal family

Now .laipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur,B ikancr and Ja isa lmcr a t t rac tslargc nulnbcr of forcign touristsand spccial packagcs arc sold tothcln to scc thc anciont city cclc-brating Diwali with its havclis andbazzars i l luminatcd All thc royalfarnil ics of Rajasthan would l it upthcir palaccs and havclis on Diwaliand tlrc cit izcns cnjoy thc fcstivalof lights cvcry molncnt

Visit ltajasthan this Diwali andbc part ofthc royal cclcbrations!

T h e r o y a l f a m i l i e s o f

Raiasthan celebrate the fes-tivat of t ights with much fan-

f a r e a n d g u s t o a n d t h e

g r a n d e u r a s s o c i a t e d w l t h

Ja ipur pa laces and takes on

D i w a l i i s a h u g e a t t r a c t i o n

for foreign and local tourists.

By Prakash Bhandari

T r s t y c a r , D i w a l i w a s n o t

I c c l c b r a t c ( l i n t h c w o r l d -I - l fanror rs C i ty Pa lacc o lJaipur bccausc of Maharaja BrigBlrawani Singlr's dcmisc onc ycarago

This ycar, thc fcstival of l ights issct to rctum to thc Rajasthan withall thc fanfarc; thc fcstival is sig-nificant for Rajasthan as thc statcsharcs a r i ch h is to ry w i th LordRama and othcr charactcrs associ-atcd with thc fcstival

On th is ausp ic ious day , cvcrycity, vil lagc and town in Rajasthancxhibit splcndor. Thc prcparationsstart days in advancc: Thc pottcrsmanufac tur ing car thcrn lamps(d iyas) , thc pa laccs l i t up w i tht h o s c ; r u l c r s p r a y i n g t o t h cA l rn igh ty to f i l l thc i r t rcasurcstrovcs and offcring food, drinksand ' inams ' ( t ips ) to o f f i c ia ls andscryants

In Jaipur, Diwali has bcen such abig fcstival that thc royal familicswould cclcbratc it for f ivc daysThc crstwhilc rulsrs of Jaipur wcrcso particular about thc fircworksthat thcy invitcd'shorgars' (f irc-

works) manufacturcrs from vari-ous parts of thc country to set upmanufacfuring basc in Pink City,

"Wc havc bccn traditional f irc-c r ackcrs rnakcrs and thc

Maharajas patronrzcd us Thc richt rad i t ion o f i l l umina t ing t l rc skywith firccrackcrs is vcry uniquc inl{ajasthan so wc would makc firc-cracl(crs tluouglrout thc ycar ands c l l i t o n D i w a l i , " s a y s K a r i mShorgar

On D iwa l i , f i r cworks don thcskics abovc Shobha Niwas and JaiN i w a s B a g h o p p o s i t c t h c C i t yPalaco Pcoplc throng thc strcctsand clirrb on rooftops to scc thcil lunrinatcd skylinc,

"lntcrcstingly, on Diwali day, thcrulcr and thc lamily rncmbcrs ofthc Jaipur royalty would offcr pujawcaring black olothcs as a tradi-tion, Thcy wcar black clothcs as itsMaha Amavasya (dark rright) andthcy wou ld changc thc i r c lo thcsaftcr offcring pLrja bcforc dinncr;"says Dccpak Sharma, a mcmbcr ofthc royal pricsts,

Pr io r to D iwa l i , thc Mahara jawou ld inv i tc Nob lcs and scn io ro f f i c ia ls fo r a p r iva tc gambl ingscssion Ncxt day, thc Noblcs andthc pcrsonal staff attircd in churi-dar-shcrwani or military uniformwould comc to grcct thc rulcr andothcr mcmbcrs of thc royal family

" ln o ld days , the ru lc r wou ldh o l d d a r b a r s ( c o u r t ) a r d t h cN o b l c s a n d t h c p e r s o n a l s t a f fwou ld p rcscn t 'nazars ' and'nichaawars' (offcring of cash asgift ) to Maharaja,Thcsc darbarswcrc thc much-awai tcd occa-sions," remcmbcrs Rajvccr SinghDund lod , a fo rmcr Nob lc TheMaharaja would offcr praycrs atthc Govinddcoji 's Tcmplc,

ln Bikancr, thc Royals cclcbratcDiwa l i w i th rnuch ga ic ty ThcLalgarh Fort is dccoratcd and thcDiwali puja is held in the i l lumi-natcd fort

During thc reign of Maharaja

Canga Singh, thc Noblcs and thcpclsonal staff would asscmblc forthc main Puja and Maharaja withhis family would turn up in royalattirc

Thc Maharaja would honor thcworkcrs, go to thc Laxmi NarayanMand i r to o f fc r Pu ja and v is i tKarn i Mata Mand i r a t Dcshnokarca a day aftcr Diwali

ln Udaipul thc rulcr would go tothc Laxrn i Na laya l tamplc andoffcr praycrs "ln good old days,thc chicf officcr who uscd to bcfrom thc Jain cornmunity, wouldpour oil into a tclracotta lamp andfhis ritual was followcd by othcrs,"rcmcmbcrs Amar Singh Mchta, anold cit izcn

Thc scion of thc Udaipur royalfamily Shnji Arvind Singh, whouscd to bc a grcat host on Diwali,h a s b c c n k c c p i n g i t a l o w - k c yaffair t lr is ycar as his mothcr dicd afcw ycars ago on Dhantcras, a daybcforc Diwali

Prior to this, Diwali was a bigcclcbration in Udaipur with all thcpa laccs l i t up ln Uda ipur , thcL a k c P a l a c c l o c a t c d o D L a k cPichho la lookcd l i kc a hcavcn lysite on Diwali

ln Jodhpur , thc roya ls wou ldhavc thc i r pu ja a t thc famousMchrangarh fort and would visitthc fort tcmplc to offcr prayersU m m c d B h a w a n P a l a c c a n dMchrangarh fo r t a rc l i t up fo rDiwali

Thc Maharaja would cntcrtaingucsts a day aftcr thc Diwali wheno ld Nob lcs and f r i cnds wou ldcome and offcr thcir Diwali grQct-ings to the Maharaja

Diwali in Alwar has always becna major fcs t i va l and thckachchawa Naruka ru lc rs o fA lwar have becn cc lcbra t ing

The City Palace Complex, Udaipur, is illuminated on Diwali (photo: Courtesv, MMCF, Udaipur)

Shiv Niwas Palace in laipur on Diwali

An i l luminated skyline of Jodhpur

Diwali celebrations in a Jaipur palace

Gear up for festive times ahead!I.t 's that t ime of year again, when we

I Bet in our festive cloths and get in theIho l iday mood! ln jus t a few daysNawatri and Dushahra celebrations willkickoff followed by Eid, Durga Puja andlastly Diwali. SATimes compiled a list ofall the social events happening in themonths of October and November so youdon't have to search up on the internet.

South Seaport Diwali Mela fireworks

ll/here: Sortlh Street Seaport, 278Broadway, New York, NY I 0007

l{hen: Sunday,OCT 07 2012 12:00PMHosted by Association of Indians in

America, the fireworks are the most antic-ipated event of South Seaport Deepavalicelebrations. 2012 AIA NY fireworkshow will coincide with the 25th anniver-sary celebrations ofAIA NY and will be agrand affair and an unprecendented eventExpect shopping extravaganzn, classical,folk and Bollywood performances, mehn-di and cuisines oflndia.

l4th Grrnd Dushrhrr Festlval

The Grand Nl Dussehra Festivalwill be on Oct l4

Where: Lake Paoaianni Park at 100

Municipal Boulevard, Edison NJ 08817.100 Municipal Blvd, Edison, NJ 08817

lYhen: Stnday,OCT t4 2012, l:00pMIndo-American Festivals Inc. celebmtes

the l4th Dushahra Festival on October14,2012, which forever will remind us ofthe victory of good over evil. With bha-jans, entertaining cultural program, daz-zling Ramleela, spectacular fireworks and25 feet Ravan effigy.

Navra t r i 2012 - Ind ian Amer lcanYouth Assoclatlon

Where: Old Pathmark/ Shoprite, 1655Oak Tree Rd, Edison, NJ 08820

When : Friday, O ct 1 2 20 12, 7 :30PMWith 50000 sq. ft. - largest indoor garba

dance floor in Tri- State area, Navratri2012 w i l l have surpr ise Bo l lywoodcelebrities.

India House Navretri

Where: Garden State Exhibit Center, 50Atrium Drive, Somerset, NJ 08873

l (hen: OCT 12, 13 , 19 ,20 , 8 :00PMPerformances by Rex D'Souza & Group

ICSNJ presents Nlvratrl 2012 Oct 19Ll/here: Drnn Sports Center , 600 Pearl

Street, Elizabeth. NJ 07202llhen: Frtday, OCT l9 2012, 8:00PMIndian culture society of New Jersey,

Inc union oelebrates navratri 2012 willhave a surprise celebrity playback singerThere will be performances from MilanSingh and Master Rana

South Scsport Deepsvrll mell

Llght The Nlght- Dlwali crulsellhere: Homblower Hybrid, 353 West

St, New York, NY 10014ll/hen: Saturd,ay, OCT 20 2012, 7:00pMKnown for their Holi celebrations, In

group organized Light'fhe Night Diwalicruise and the venue is New York's mostmodern yacht - the Hornblower. Thisship's expansive floor to ceiling windowsand state-of-the-art l ighting wil l makeviewing the privately ananged fireworksdisplay all the more extraordinary.

The event inc ludes : an exc lus iveevening cruise with views of the NewYork City Skyline, a premium open bar, aspectacular display offireworks, food andentertalnment,

Utsav Durga pujallhere: Piscataway High School, 100

Behmer Rd, Piscataway Township, NJ08854

ll/hen: SaIurday, OCT 20 Z\tZ,9:00AM

Experience the rhythm of dhak; witnessthe grace of Dhunuchi naach / sindur-khela; wonder in the magic of SandhyaAra t i ; immerse in th€ devot ion o fPushpanjali; f ind divine taste in bhogprasad; leisurely winclow-shop at theSaree/Jewelry stalls, or just engross intimeless "adda"

Dlwali Glft FalrlYhere : Roger Smi th Hote l l , 501

LexingtonAve, New York, NY 10017ll/hcn: Slnday, Oct 21 201 2, 1 :00PMGear up for Diwali with modern and

unique South Asian - inspired gifts at theDiwali gift fail

Diwsli ond Eid 2012Where: Yalimar Club House, Valimar

Blvd. White Plains. NY 10603I//lan.. Saturday, Nov 03 201 2 2:30PMAsavar i , a schoo l o f Ind ian Voca l

(Classical, Bhajan, Ghazal, Bollyvood),Keyboard , Harmon ium and Dance(Kathak, Ethnic, Bollywood) located inWestchester, New York will host a jointcelebration of Diwali and Eid with amusical evening that includes a varietyentertainment program of HindustaniClassical Vocal, Kathak, Bollyvood con-temporary Karoke, standup comedy etc.

Dlwali Mela NJlilhere: Garden State Exhibit Center; 50

Atrium Drive, Somerset, NJ 08873Zftea,. Saturday, Nov 03 201212:00pMCelebrations include Bollywood danc-

ing, garba rass, fashion show, dj music,fireworks, Laxmi pujan, rangoli

Metropolltan Museum of Art cele-brates Dlwali

ll/here: The Metropolitan Museum ofArt, Fifth Avenue at 82nd street

When: Satwday, November 3,2OlZ 3pm onwards

Members of the East- West school ofdance will tell the story of Diwali

F a l g u n i P a t h a kCelebrstion

N a v r a t r i

Falguni Pathak is back thisyear for Navratri

ll/here: New Jersey Expo - Edison, 97Sunfield Ave, Edision, NJ 08837

When : Satvd,ay, O ct 27 20 12, 9 :00PMJust days prior to the luminous Nawatri

f iesta, the much-loved, much-missedDandiya queen, Falguni Pathak, who per-forms live for the garba and dandiya cele-brations annually announced her come-back in Edison

(Compiled by Jinal Shah/SATimes)

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Navratri

Ram Leela - a divine act to watchI drarnatic folk rc-cnactrncnt

A ofthc trials and tribulatiorrsl. \rclatcd to thc l ifc of LordRama, Ram Lccla cnds up aftcr al0-day battlc bctwccn Lord Ramaand Ravana, thc dcmol king

A brlefhistorvA tradition that originatcs fionr

thc Indian subcontincnt, the play isstagcd annually often ovcr l0 ormorc successivc nights, durirg thca u s p i c i o u s p c r i o d o f ' S h a r a d

Navratras', which marks thc com-mcnccrncnt of thc auturnll fcstivalpcr iod, starting with Dusschra

Usua l ly thc pcr fo rnranccs arctirncd to culminatc on Dussclrra,that cornrnemoratcs thc victory ofLord Rama ovcr thc dcmon king

On Vijayadashmi, thc cnactmcntof thc final battlc takcs place bcforogiant cll igics ofRavana, his brothcr

Kurnbhakaran and son Mcghanatharc set on firc, marking thc culmi-nation of fcstivitics and restorationofthe divinc order

It is bclicvcd that f ir st Ram Lcclawas stagcd by Mcgha Bhagat, onaof thc disciplcs of Saint Tulsidas inabout 1625 AD, though thcrc arcsolnc cvidcnce of its cxistcncc iusomc form bcforc thc crcatiol ofthis vcrsion as wsll

' l hc Acl

Most Rarn Lcclas in North hldiaa r c b a s c d o n t h e l 6 t h c c n t u l y

Over tLe qears, Ra- Lela, a 10-'dag sta6e enactment ol Lord Rama's wictorg overRavara, tLe demon kin6, across In,ili4 has received. considerahle 6lohl attention due

to its diverse representation, eqreciallg amon61 the Indian diaqtora communitq

Avadh i vc rs ion o f thc ho ly book'Ramcharitmanas', writtcn by SaintTulsidas in vcrsc, and uscd as dia-logucs during opcn-air stagc showsorganiscd by local Ram Lccla com-mittccs (Samitis) and f 'undcd cntirr-ly by thc locals

Golng globil lRam Lccla lras rcccivcd considcr-

ablc global attcution owing to itsdivcrsc rcprcscntation throughoutthc g lobc , cspcc ia l l y among thclud ia r d iaspora communi ty , andrcgions wherc Hinduism has sprcadovcl thc centulics, l ikc Afl ica audscvcral South East Asian coultrics

Ovcr thc ccn tur ies , Ram Lcc lahas cvolvcd into a highly vcncratcdar t fo rm and has t ravc lcd acrossglobc Today, Ram Lccla is stagcdin counh ics with significant diaspo-ra p rcscncc l i kc P i j i , Maur i t ius ,South Af r i ca , Canada, Guyana,Sur iname, Tr in idad and Tobago,Grcat Britair, Thc Nethcrlands, thcUnitcd States and Australia, alnongolhcrs

Some Asian culturcs havc similardrama t rad i t ions bascd onRamayana, for instance tltc'PhraLak Phra Larn'(Lak and Lam arcthc Laotiall namcs for Lakshmanand Ram, rcspcctivcly) folk play ofLaos and northcastcrn Thailand

UNESCO proclaimed the tradi-tion of Ram Lecla a Master piccc ofthc Oral and lntangiblc Heritagc ofHurnanity in 2005

Going hi-fechAt a time when children identifl

m o r c w i t h H a r r y P o t t c r t h a nI-lanuman, Ram Lccla cornrniltccsarc pull iug out all stops to kccp thccrowds coming in durirrg thc annualfbstival For instancc, somc Samitisshow o f f Hanuman, Ja tayu andothcr charactcrs flying across thcstagc At t imcs, any part showcasingvictory o1'good ovct cvil is shownwith a l ighting show, which pcoplco f a l l a g c s c n j o y D u r i n g R a mLccla, quiz conrpctit ions for chil-drcn arc also conductcd conccrningthc prcvious day's pcrformancc

'Ihc Charactcrlstics

Today, scvc la l rcg ions havcdcvc lopcd thc i r own d is t inc t i vcforms A uniquc Ram Lccla is bcings tagcd s incc 1972 a t Baksh i KaTaa la t r , about 20 k rn f ro rnLucknow, whcrc l cad cha lac tc tsRama, Lakshman and Hanuman arcp laycd by Mus l im youths T I l i sfour -day Ram Lcc la s ta r ts onDussbera and has also bccn adaptcdinto a l{adio play, 'Us Gaon ki RamL c c l a ' , b y L u c k n o w A l l l n d i aRadio.

Uttar Pradesh itsclf has numcrousvariants of proscDtation stylcs, mostpromincnt among them is that ofRarnnagar in Varanasi, stagcd overm u l t i p l c v c n u c s i ntablcaux/pagcants across the city

Accord ing to a 2008 UNESCOrcport, tho most colorful and attrac-tive Ram Leclas are organized inAyodhya, Varanas i , Vr indavan,Almora (Himachal Pradcsh) andSatna and Madhubani (Bihar)

Many urban Rarn Lcc las nowh a v c d i a l o g u c s w r i t t c n i n l o c a ld ia lcc ts , bu t thc f lavour rc lna insmalodramatic as always to achicvcmaximum ilnpact amid an audicnccthat knows thc story by hcart

Just l ikc folk thcatcr form, topicalthclncs arc oftcn intcrwovcn in thcscript to had Lclcvancc and somc-timcs humour is uscd to offcr a crit-ic or commclltaly ovcf currcnt ltap-pcnrngs

Doing it dil lcrcntlyA un iquc s tag i rg o f Ram Lcc la

takcs placc at Chihakoot, ovcr f ivcdays , cvcry yca l dur ing thc las twcck o1'Fcbruary, bcginning frornthc Maha Shivratl i day, hcrc thccpisodc of Bharat-Milap is of primclmportanco

Thc Ram Barat of'FIi ha ha ha haAgra' is anothcr intclcsting traditionconncctcd with Rarn Lcela, whcrcdur ing thc fcs t i v i t i cs , a mar r iagcproccssion of Lord Rama is takcnthroughout thc city

Thc Ahnora or Kurnaon stylc wass e t i n t h c n u s i c a l r e n d c t i n g o f'Thckatha'bascd on thc thcatricalstyle dcvclopcd by famous dancerUday Shankar durng h is s tay inAlmora Dclhi holds rnany proni-ncnt Ram Lcclas across thc city,including thc oldcst onc at thc RamLcela Ground near thc ltistoric RedFor t I t was s ta r ted in Mugha lcmperor Bahadur Shah Zafar's tirnc

hr 2004, foL thc first t imc, RamLccla cclcbratiors wcre telccast toover 100 countries