The Indian American community in the state of
Connecticut ushered in the New Year, 2018, with a grand cultural program,
showcasing the budding young talents of Indian American kids from across the
state, at the annual New Year and Christmas celebrations, organized by the
Malayalee Association of Southern Connecticut (MASCONN) on Saturday, January 13th,
at Madison Middle School, Trumbull, CT.
It
may have been a cold night outside but inside of the venue was buzzing with
frenzy, warmth and fellowship for the families who had come from across the state
to participate at the annual event. The more than three-hours long cultural
extravaganza, mostly by children and youth was in many ways “reliving the
culture and traditions†and a is way of “cherishing the past with a view to
pass it on to the future generation.†Bollywood, classical, folk dances with
music from the yesteryears to the present, along with Christmas carols,
culminating with a grand buffet dinner were the highlights of the celebrations.
The
celebration of Christmas and New Year with traditional and modern Indian
cultural events provided the hundreds of participants with a perfect
opportunity to encourage the new generation of children of Indian origin to
witness, learn and appreciate these rich traditions, even while it offered the
first generation of Indian American children and youth to stay connected and
cherish the rich cultural heritage they hold so dear to them while serving as a
way of showcasing these traditions to the larger American community.
“MASCONN
an offshoot of the natural growth of the Indian-American especially Malayalee
Community in the southern Connecticut region,†said Wilson Pottackal, President
of MASCON, in his welcome address. Declaring that the 10th year of the formation
of the Association has many good surprises for the members, Wilson stated, “In a
very short period of 10 years, we have grown by leaps and bounds and we strive
to meet the growing needs of our community.†He pointed to the many new initiatives
the organization has spearheaded successfully in the past decade. Later on, he
introduced the new teams of Executive Council and Board of Directors of MASCONN
for the next two years to the audience.
Wilson
referred to the MASCONN-Kids Club which has recently been launched, and urged
the youth and children to become members of it. He thanked the Kids Club
members who had initiated a fund -raiser with raffles to collect money for the Cyclone
OCKHI Relief Fund to support the victims and their families in the
southern district, Kanyakumary in Tamil Nadu, India.
Sudhi
Balan, an organizer of the event, said, “We thank every performer, their
parents, and their choreographers for your effort and commitment. Thank you for
your cooperation with everything. We really appreciate everyone for being on
time, being on the ball and ready to show your best. You did an excellent
job by making your performance within the allotted time. Because of you,
we were able to get through the programs as planned. You keep raising the bar
in what you do and we want to make this even better - the best show in Southern
CT.â€
Indian
Americans continue to come in large numbers and settle down in the
state of Connecticut particularly in towns with reputations for excellent
schools. The latest figures from the U.S. Census show 37,545 people of Indian
origin living in the state, an increase of about 14,000 from 2000. In the last
five years since the last census, there has been a very significant influx of Indian
Americans in the Constitution state. The reasons to move here, Indian Americans
say, remain education and opportunity.
MASCONN
is a non-political, non-religious forum to strengthen Malayalee
culture and tradition and to give special emphasis to the development of
the new generation of expatriate Malayalees. For the younger generation, MASCONN
passes on the cultural heritage, tradition, the rarely cherished legacy
and values while they are integrating into the American culture. For more
information on MASCONN, please do visit. www.masconn.org
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