NEW YORK (TIP): Vaishnav Temple of New York, Inc, (VTNY) was established in December 1986 under the leadershipof the late Dr. Arvind Shah. Vaishnav Temple of New York is the first traditional ‘Pushtimargiya’temple in North America. For more than 30 years, members of VTNY and Indians in the community have shown their patrioticspirit and celebrated India’s Republic Day. For the past couple of years VTNY has partnered with TheGujarati Samaj of New York (GSNY) to organize and celebrate this day. On 29th January, 2023 almost 300 Indian “Desh Bhakts” gathered at VTNY to celebrate the 74th Republic Day of India.
The Chief Guest of the event was Dr. Bobby Kalotee, Chairman of the Nassau County Commissionon Human Rights and Mrs. Ragini Srivastava, serving as Town Clerk of the Town of North Hempsteadwas the guest of Honor.
The event was sponsored by Dr. Pratix Shroff and his family,who are devoted Vaishnavs. Dr. Shroff is a renowned General & Cosmetic Dentistry Practitionerand a longtime supporter ofVTNY.
The event started with an Indian and American Flag parade with all the dignitaries, trustees, andexecutive committee members of VTNY and GSNY and fellow Indians joining the march. KumarMathuria, Secretary of VTNY welcomed everyone. Thereafter, Jaymin Shah, President of VTNY, AnilShah, Chairman of VTNY, Harshad (Pakaji) Patel, President of GSNY and Co-Chairman of VTNY,Diyesh Tripathi, Program Manager of GSNY and Jignesh Gandhi, Jt. Secretary of VTNY introducedand felicitated the sponsor and chief guests of the event.All the senior members of VTNY and GSNY along with the dignitaries then joined on the stage for theFlag Hoisting Ceremony under the guidance of Champakbhai Parikh and his son Bharatbhai Parikh.Champakbhai has been guiding the flag hoisting ceremony for more than two decades. This ceremonystarted with the American National Anthem sung by Avantika Shah, followed by singing of VandeMataram, Flag Hoisting by the dignitaries, Rashtra Dhwaj salami and singing of the Indian NationalAnthem- Jana Gana Mana- by all together. Dr. Bobby Kalotee and Mrs. Ragini Srivastava then gave citations and recognized members of thecommunity for their selfless service.
This was followed by some amazing patriotic song dance performances by young kids and teenagersfrom the community. This included kids from the Gujarati Class of VTNY choreographed byVaishali Shah and Arya Dance Academy led by Shilpa Zurani along with performance by kidschoreographed by Sonal Shah and a performance by Prachi Shah. The members of the Karaoke groupof VTNY then sang a medley of patriotic songs which reminded everyone of the sacrifices of theIndian Freedom Fighters and Independence Leaders and also highlighted the great heritage andculture of India. The celebrationconcluded with update on future events of VTNY provided by the Jt. SecretaryJignesh Gandhi and update on future events of the Senior Community Center of VTNY provided by thePresident Chandrakant Shah followed by vote of thanks from Divyesh Tripathi, the Program Managerof GSNY and Kumar Mathuria, the Secretary of VTNY.
(Press Release & Pictures / courtesy Vijay Shah)