Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
CALIFORNIA: India’s 75th Independence Day was celebrated in Fremont, California with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervor among members of the Indian community.
The Federation of Indian Americans of Northern California (FIA) unfurled the Indian tricolor to commemorate India’s 75th Independence Day on August 14, 2021 at the Fremont Hindu Temple. For the past 28 years, the FIA has been organizing the Festival of India to symbolize the unity, integrity, culture and the best of things that are hallmarks of the Indian community in the Bay Area. Given the pandemic, flag hoisting was done at a low key. The event was held with full COVID-19 protocols.
Elected officials from the City of Fremont, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose, Indian American community leaders, representatives from Indian American community organizations, patriotic Indians as well as members of the media attended the event. Student artists enthralled the audiences by performing different forms of dance through choreographic performances of group dances.
Lakshmi Narasimhan, disciple of Swetha Venkatramani and Sukanta Sorna Muthukumar, disciple of Chandana Thaluri performed bharatanatyam at the event. Singer Alka Bhatnagar and team enthralled the audience with the patriotic songs. Ishanvi Verma, Ashvi Verma and Ridhima Kapoor performed a semi-classical dance style at the event. FOG cultural chair Jo Sharma co-ordinated the cultural performance of the day.
Consul General of India in San Francisco, Dr. Nagendra Prasad, unfurled the Indian flag at 3676, Delaware Drive. Fremont Mayor Lily Mei unfurled the American national flag at the event. City of Fremont Vice Mayor Yang Shao, Councilmembers Raj Salwan, Rick Jones, Teresa Cox, Teresa Keng, Jenny Kansan were all in attendance. The event was also attended by Assemblymen Ash Kalra, Assemblymen Alex Lee, representative from Supervisor David Heubert office, Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein, Santa Clara Vice Mayor Raj Chahal were all in attendance.
In his address, Consul General Dr. Nagendra Prasad highlighted Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day message, where he paved the way forward for India, and our aspirations of building a new India. The celebration of India’s Independence Day in the U.S. is a symbol of the strong relations between the U.S. and India, he said.
Celebrating the beginning of the Amrit Mahotsav (Festival of Freedom), Dr Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India, SFO, greeted the Indian diaspora congratulating everyone on the special occasion. Dr Prasad told India Post, “This is a two-year festival of Independence from 2021- 2023. The 75th Independence anniversary will also be extended until August 15, 2023.” He also praised the performances of the participants during the event.
Consul General Dr Prasad touched upon the new initiatives undertaken by the consulate for enhancing the welfare of the community and delivery of services, including the launch of chat bot, virtual appointment, outreach activities. The consul general highlighted the close friendly ties between India and the US.
“Wishing you all a very Happy 75th Independence Day. May this year of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ bring new energy and consciousness among the citizens of the country: Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Taking to Twitter, Mr Jaishankar said, “Inaugurated @iccr_hq#AmritMahotsav Gala Performance. A fitting celebration of a historic milestone, the 75th year as a free nation is the starting point to envision where we will be on our centenary.”
On this special day, we salute the visionaries of modern India for giving us today, a thriving multicultural country and contribution to the entire world,” Dr Romesh Japra, FIA Chairman said. “Due to the pandemic, the Festival of India Mela is postponed to Oct 9. We will host a bigger Festival of India and Diwali celebration on Oct 9,” Dr Japra added. Today our Festival of India has become a national event attracting participants from as far away as the East Coast,” said Dr Romesh Japra, Convener of FIA.
Sponsors who made this event possible are Bank of the West, Air India, Wells Fargo, Astro Vastu solutions by Vaneet Sharma, Visitors Guru, Lavanya Duvvi – Intero real estate, Pacific Realty partners, Keen Learners Montessori, Dr. Monika Chugh, Young explorers, Young Champions, CEFCU, Bharat Bazar, Provident credit union, Golden 1 credit Union, Global India real estate and Parmeet Randhawa.
Commenting on the success of the Festival, Rajesh Verma, President of FIA, said, “This is our way of passing on the torch of our pride in our traditions to the future generations of Indian-American youth.”
Thousands are expected to attend the 29th annual Festival of India & Diwali on Oct. 9 at Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont to celebrate the 75th year of India’s independence. The primary purpose of the event, set for 10 – 6 pm. on a Saturday, is to showcase Indian culture for the local community, while celebrating the values of freedom, democracy, diversity, and tolerance, shared between India and the United States, according to Rajesh Verma, President, FIA.
Mayor Sam Licardo, San Jose city recognized FIA/FOG during the Tuesday, August 10 City Council meeting. Rajesh Verma, President, FIA received the commendation on behalf of all the volunteers of FIA. Councilmember Sylvia Arenas recognized India Independence Day by sponsoring a lighting of the City Hall tower and Rotunda in orange, white, and green from August 12 through August 19 starting at 4pm-6am.
