NEWARK, CA: The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) kicked off its first event of the year celebrating India’s 62nd Republic Day to a packed audience with over 500 in attendance with Vijaya Asuri as the gracious Emcee, on January 30 at the Newark Pavilion, in Newark, California.
January 26, 1950, India’s Republic Day is the day that the constitution of India came into force and India became a truly sovereign state. In India, both India’s Independence Day and Republic Day are celebrated with much fervor. India’s world famous Republic Day draws thousands of spectators and participants and is celebrated at New Delhi’s India Gate and Presidential Palace. The festivities include an award ceremony and a parade showcasing India’s army, navy, and air force, ethnic diversity, and many regional forms of dances and dress.
In the Bay Area, Republic Day is one of the largest turn-out of dignitaries at any Indian event. In fact, Mayor of Union City, Mark Green, stated that he had been coming to the India Republic Day celebration for the past 14 years in the Bay Area. Overall, several dignitaries from California, political leaders, and members from Indian Consulate, Deputy Consul General Kumar Tuhin and Consul for Community Affairs, Ashok Kumar Sinha in San Francisco graced the occasion, along with folks we see year after year and also many young families and new faces. Hundreds of young and those young-at-heart participated in dance competitions. Including the children’s art, skit, and public speaking competitions on Saturday, January 29, it was a colorful and festive two-day celebration.
Along with the United States, India is one of the world’s largest democracies. This year, the FIA honored five individuals with the Celebration of Democracy 2011 awards. The recipients of this coveted award were Assembly Member, Robert Wieckowski, AD – 20th, Assembly Member, Paul Fong, AD – 22nd, Robin Torello, Chair, Alameda County Democratic Party, Shobana Ramamurthi, Community Organizer, Organizing for America, and the youngest individual honored among the group, Deepa Sharma, Political Director, South County Young Democrats.
Several Bay Area political leaders graced the occasion. Mayor of Fremont, Bob Wasserman along with his wife Linda, Mayer of Union City, Mark Green, City of San Jose Council member, Ash Kalra, Senator Ellen Corbett, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty and several other council members, school board members, Union Sanitary District Board Members, members of the Fremont and Ohlone College School Boards, South County Young Democrats and a number of commissioners in the City of Fremont and other cities were present.
Several other leading Bay Area dignitaries included Bill Harrison, Councilmember, Suzanne Lee Chan, Vice Mayor from the City of Fremont; Jim Navarro, Vice Mayor and Pat Gacoscos, Councilmember, from the City of Union City.
Boards and commission members included Greg Bonaccorsi, Board Vice Chair and Teresa Cox from the Ohlone College Board of Trustees; Jennifer Toy and Manny Fernandez from the Union Sanitary District; Fremont School Board, Lily Mei.
Fremont commissioners included: Human Relations Commission, Veeru Vuppala; Library Commission: Dharminder Dewan and Deepak Chhabra; Planning Commission, Raj Salwan, David Bonaccorsi, Yogi Chugh (Vice Chair) and a commissioner from the Human Relations Commission. Other honorable attendees included Deepa Sharma, South County Young Democrats, the Washington Hospital Board of Directors Chair, Pat Danielson, and Marty Kohler from the Alameda County Water District. At the county level, the commissioners included Rajesh Verma, Alameda County of Public Health and Alameda County Human Relations Commissioner, Ishan Shah. Former Mayor of the City of Fremont, Gus Morrison was also present.
As part of India’s Republic Day celebrations, the Fremont Hindu Temple with organizer, Dharminder Dewan also put together a Public Speaking Competition, Skit Competition, and Drawing Competition at the Fremont Hindu Temple on Saturday, January 29.
“The Fremont Temple and Cultural Center’s Annual Republic Day Drawing and Skit Competition was a grand success with over 200 participants and great speakers and artists. It took six judges and our group three hours to judge the competition before the winners were announced,” Dharminder Dewan told India Post.
Neeru Vermani said, “It was a great event and we are thrilled that we were a part of it and we get to see amazing little artists.” Winners were awarded trophies in the Celebration of Democracy event on January 30, as part of FIA’s India Republic Day celebrations in the presence of numerous dignitaries. All the participants, parents, judges, and volunteers were provided lunch at the event. Yogi Chugh added, “Great job. I’m simply amazed by the children who participated. It’s so impressive, seeing them preparing and getting ready, and giving it their best. All the kids were winners.”
Hetal Anjaria, an art teacher based in Fremont with a background in mixed multimedia, acrylics, watercolors, hand painting on wood and glass, and sketching, told India Post, “the art competition at the Fremont Hindu Temple was really very good exposure for kids of all ages. I am glad most of my students participated and really did a good job. It was amazing to see them do such good art and use their ideas in an innovative way. The theme being Republic Day it was really so nice to give them all kinds of examples as to draw a flag, or the Indian lotus flower, Indian Flag, or the national bird, the peacock. To do something like this by kids starting from three years of age is just wonderful.”
The winners of the Public Speaking Competition in various age categories were: Peher Kewalramani in 1st place, Keshav Narang in 2nd place, and Rayhan Rani in 3rd place. Anushka Mrunal Potdar in 1st place, Aarushi Deshpande in 2nd place, and Shivek Narang in 3rd place. Pranav A. Lakhan in 1st place, Parth Anjaria in 2nd place, and Mihir Kumar Srivastava in 3rd place. Hariharan in 1st place, Jiti Sarkar in 2nd place, and Ishani Deshpande in 3rd place.
The winners of the Quiz Competition in various age categories were: Keshav Narang in 1st place and Rayhan Rani in 2nd place. Ashushka Mrunal Potdar in 1st place, Shivek Narange in 2nd place, and Ryan Rani in 3rd place. Amogh Manjunath in 1st place, Ananya Komerla in 2nd place, and Novely Joshi in 3rd place. Justin Sidhu in 1st place, Shreeya Tripathi in 2nd place, and Shagun Kumar Shrivastava in 3rd place.
The winners of the Drawing Competition in various age categories were: Aditya Ghorpade in 1st place, Mohit Tamboli in 2nd place, Sayuri Rane in 3rd place, Tviha and Anisha Pollakondi were special mentions. In the next age category, Vishnu Anilkumar won 1st place, Aarushi Deshpande came in 2nd, and Nishithi Hundi was 3rd. Amol Gupta was 1st place, Tanushka Dewan was 2nd place, Janvi Sidhapura was 3rd place, and Anisha Narsam, Ananya Komarla, and Yukti Vijay were special mentions. Vani Anil Kumar was 1st place, Ishika Goel was 2nd place, Tanisha Singh was 3rd place, and Ishani Deshpande was recognized as a special mention.
Among the two age categories, under 11 years old, and above 11 years old for the Skit Competition. The winners were Himanshu Wagh, Pramshu Wagh, Shrimayee Grandhi, Haidavi Veladanda, and Sumeda in 1st place. Anirudh Rao, Adiya Rao, Pranav Bhushan, Pramukh Bhushan, Akhilash Varigonda, and Shreyas Kulkarni earned 2nd place, and Rachit Pareek and Novely Joshi came in at 3rd place. In the other age category, Juhi Mehta, Tushar Mehta, Tanya Mehta, Gautam Gudavalli, and Kanishk Kapoor won 1st place and Abhey Dewan, Justin Sidhu, and Tanushka Dewan earned 2nd place.
Kavita Arora
India Post News Service
Kavita Arora is Anchor & Co-Producer of Sitaarre TV
