BY IJ NEWS SERVICE
SAN DIEGO, CA - The entertaining and fun-filled Festival of Lights which included the Festival of Dolls presented by the San Diego Indian American Society on Oct 14, was attended by close to 10,000 visitors and was a rich sampling of India, with a delightful variety of all its flavors. The Festival of Lights in the Organ Pavilion’s...
SAN DIEGO, CA - The entertaining and fun-filled Festival of Lights which included the Festival of Dolls presented by the San Diego Indian American Society on Oct 14, was attended by close to 10,000 visitors and was a rich sampling of India, with a delightful variety of all its flavors. The Festival of Lights in the Organ Pavilion’s...
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San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and John Decker, program Director of KPBS. The Festival of Dolls featured many new displays with the highlight being the traditional South Indian 9-step display of dolls arranged in evolutionary order. The structure has been built by members of the community over the years and many of the dolls and decorations are crowd-sourced as well, creating a new arrangement to delight audiences each year. AdditIonal scenes of Raas Leela and other festivals with dolls were added.
In addition, the diversity of Indian culture was showcased through displays of textiles from ten different states with all of the various weaves explained. A dramatic exhibit of 16 types of men’s headgear and turbans from various states and religions was created. Both religious and ceremonial pieces were shown . The story of the Diwali stamp was featured along with displays focused on Indian instruments, games, food and jewelry.
The Festival also featured interactions of India and the West over the last 150 years – including information about Swami Vivekananda, early Sikh settlers in the late 1800s and the story of Anandi Gopal Joshi, the first Indian woman to come to the US and become a doctor in 1886. South Asian Immigrant stories from various eras were shared along with quotes about Indian from eminent personalities such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Albert Einstein. A video presentation showing the achievements of Indian CEOs, Nobel Prize winners and young people was played throughout the afternoon. The festivities were designed to bring the ancient India curriculum taught in San Diego public schools to life as well as give visitors a sense of the varied contributions of the Indian community to American society.
Family activities included traditional henna painting and a photo booth. Rangoli designs were created by local artists.
Dr Madhu Madhavan, SDIAS founder and executive director, at the main event extended a warm welcome to all. Addressing the gathering he said the inaugural Festival of Lights was held in 2008 with 1008 small lamps loaned by Stephen Huily, a well known art critic from New York and arranged by Ava Bhavsar. In 2009, SDIAS brought replicas of 52 historical lamps representing various faiths, regions and eras. The tallest lamp is a version of a lamp in Ayyappan temple, Kerala.
``Sharing our culture, we do in a unique way. This is perhaps one of the few places in this country where you hear all official languages of India rendered in artistic forms on the same stage. Today’s event involved over 200 participants, thousands of hours of practice and countless number of volunteers,’’ he said.
``One of our objective to emphasize education through the Mahatma Gandhi memorial scholarships, much appreciated by Mayor Faulconer,’’ he said. The Mayor presented Certificates of Recognition to the honorees: Dr.P.K.Patel and his wife Kantha; Dr. Aruna and her husband Sabodh Garg; Mrs. Hema Lall and her husband, Bharat; Gayatri Prahalad;.Ray Patel and his wife, Manju; Salim Shah and his wife, Francoise; Vera Kripalani and her husband Anil; Bonnie Arora and her husband, Krishna; Kunal Roy and his wife, Neelam; Sejal Parikh and Dr. Sudha Praba. Those who put in a lot of hard work and coordinated the event were Jonathan Bosco, Hamid Daudani, Deepa Prahalad, Neelu Bharadwaj and Manish Parikh.
In addition, the diversity of Indian culture was showcased through displays of textiles from ten different states with all of the various weaves explained. A dramatic exhibit of 16 types of men’s headgear and turbans from various states and religions was created. Both religious and ceremonial pieces were shown . The story of the Diwali stamp was featured along with displays focused on Indian instruments, games, food and jewelry.
The Festival also featured interactions of India and the West over the last 150 years – including information about Swami Vivekananda, early Sikh settlers in the late 1800s and the story of Anandi Gopal Joshi, the first Indian woman to come to the US and become a doctor in 1886. South Asian Immigrant stories from various eras were shared along with quotes about Indian from eminent personalities such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Albert Einstein. A video presentation showing the achievements of Indian CEOs, Nobel Prize winners and young people was played throughout the afternoon. The festivities were designed to bring the ancient India curriculum taught in San Diego public schools to life as well as give visitors a sense of the varied contributions of the Indian community to American society.
Family activities included traditional henna painting and a photo booth. Rangoli designs were created by local artists.
Dr Madhu Madhavan, SDIAS founder and executive director, at the main event extended a warm welcome to all. Addressing the gathering he said the inaugural Festival of Lights was held in 2008 with 1008 small lamps loaned by Stephen Huily, a well known art critic from New York and arranged by Ava Bhavsar. In 2009, SDIAS brought replicas of 52 historical lamps representing various faiths, regions and eras. The tallest lamp is a version of a lamp in Ayyappan temple, Kerala.
``Sharing our culture, we do in a unique way. This is perhaps one of the few places in this country where you hear all official languages of India rendered in artistic forms on the same stage. Today’s event involved over 200 participants, thousands of hours of practice and countless number of volunteers,’’ he said.
``One of our objective to emphasize education through the Mahatma Gandhi memorial scholarships, much appreciated by Mayor Faulconer,’’ he said. The Mayor presented Certificates of Recognition to the honorees: Dr.P.K.Patel and his wife Kantha; Dr. Aruna and her husband Sabodh Garg; Mrs. Hema Lall and her husband, Bharat; Gayatri Prahalad;.Ray Patel and his wife, Manju; Salim Shah and his wife, Francoise; Vera Kripalani and her husband Anil; Bonnie Arora and her husband, Krishna; Kunal Roy and his wife, Neelam; Sejal Parikh and Dr. Sudha Praba. Those who put in a lot of hard work and coordinated the event were Jonathan Bosco, Hamid Daudani, Deepa Prahalad, Neelu Bharadwaj and Manish Parikh.
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