• By Parveen Chopra

JERICHO, NY (TIP): India’s Consul General Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, along with his wife Mrs. Monalisa Shuvadarshini, New York Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, and Town Clerk, Town of North Hempstead Ragini Srivastava, joined the Indian community at the celebration of festival of colors, Holi, and the festival of valor, Hola hosted by The Indian Panorama at the Cotillion Banquet on Long Island on April 5.

Guests were greeted with a dab of dry gulal on the cheeks and offered the traditional cardamom and crystal sugar.

Now in its 6th year hosting the event, The Indian Panorama combines the celebration of Hola Mohalla, which has significance in Sikh history, with Holi. The highlight of this year’s performances was a thrilling display of the Sikh martial art called Gatka by Sardar Daler Singh’s Gatka academy students.

Amb Pradhan and Mrs. Shuvadarshini (the latter attended the celebration for the first time) were enthralled by the 15-minute performance as young kids wielded swords and other weapons as if on the battlefield.

In his address, Ambassador Pradhan thanked The Indian Panorama and its Editor-Publisher, Prof Indrajit Singh Saluja, for continuing with their tradition of organizing the Holi/Hola and Vaisakhi events, the latter scheduled for April 11 at the Consulate.
Ambassador told the Indian community to beware of unscrupulous visa/passport agencies and scammers. He said the consulate was sensitive to the community’s expectations and needs of efficient consular services, and keeping this in view, the Consulate was now providing emergency services even on weekends and holidays which means 365 days of the year.

Amb. Pradhan and Mrs Shuvadarshini were greeted with bouquets and honored with shawls by Prof Saluja and the Holi/Hola Organizing Committee. Mrs. Shuvadarshini said she was happy to attend the colorful celebration and kindly handed over the certificates of attendance to all performers. Also representing the Indian Consulate were Vishal Jayeshbhai Harsh, Deputy Consul General, and Sewang Gyalson, Consul.

New York State Assemblyman Edward Braunstein graced the event, spoke briefly and presented Amb. Pradhan a citation from the assembly. He, in turn, was honored with a shawl by the Consul General.

Town of North Hempstead Clerk Ragini Srivastava also addressed the gathering, talking about her long association and support of the Indian community. She said it was a pleasure for her to participate in the Holi / Hola celebrations organized by The Indian Panorama, and that she did not miss any in the past. She was honored with a shawl.

Prof Saluja, in his introductory remarks, said that The Indian Panorama’s Holi & Hola celebrations began in 2018, inspired by then Consul General Mr. Sandeep Chakravorty, to unite the Indian American community in celebrating the Festival of Colors and Love, and the Festival of Valor. What started as a modest event with a gathering of a hundred crème de la crème of the Indian Diaspora quickly evolved into a grand annual tradition, enriched with Gatka displays, vibrant singing and dancing performances, and comic relief.

This year, for the first time, the program started with ‘Sarva Dharma Prayers’ led by Purnima Desai, founder of Shikshayatan Cultural Center, and Harcharan Singh Gulati, of Gurdwara Nanak Darbar in Hicksville. They were joined on the stage by Narinder Kapoor and Gurdip Singh Narula, who talked about the origins of Hola Mohalla festival.

A much-anticipated performance was by Sanjib Bhattacharya, an accomplished Manipuri dancer and recipient of two President’s awards in India. He did not disappoint as he was joined by his elaborately dressed troupe members including Jagannath Lairenjam, Jolly Moni Debi and Chaobi Thoi Leiranjam Debi.

A Holi dance performance by a group led by choreographer and dancer Jyotika Patel was appreciated by all. Her troupe included Anuradha Kumar, Brinda Soneiji, Shilpa Jayshil Patel, Sujini Govindrajan, and Vijaya Nyayapathi.

Towards the end, Ashok Arora, a lawyer in India’s Supreme Court, earned the ‘royal’ crown as Mahamoorkh (The Biggest Fool). Arora sportingly cherished the new title and recited a couple of Urdu couplets about love and even sang a song, entertaining the crowd. Earlier winners of the dubious title have been Tirlok Malik, Ravi Batra, Elango Balasubramaniam and H.P. Singh.

Dr. Bindeshwari Aggarwal provided comic relief with her humorous poems. Then, Surya Makkar played on Dhol, and sister Prachi crooned boliyan and tappe, making ladies dance with abandon.

The Indian Panorama publisher and editor Prof. Saluja, who emceed the program, thanked the dignitaries, community leaders and guests for their gracious presence. He also thanked members of his organizing committee – Jyoti Gupta (coordinator), Shashi Malik, Dr. Jag Kalra, Abha Bhatnagar, Anju & Sanju Sharma, Amita Karwal, Gunjan Rastogi, Beena Kothari, Bina Sabapathy, Jaskiran Saluja and Parveen Chopra. A sumptuous lunch after the program and snacks and thandai before were served.

(A senior journalist, Parveen Chopra is the Founding Editor of ALotusInTheMud.com, the premier wellness and spirituality online magazine)