What better way to keep at bay the arctic winter blues of a cold New England January night than bask in the warm glow of a great evening replete with dance, music and community?

Organized by the India Association Of Greater Boston (IAGB), to commemorate Indian Republic Day, India Day has become an enduring Boston area tradition. Complementing the summer counterpart to celebrate India’s Independence Day, the R-Day festivities offer the Indian-American community in New England an opportunity to congregate for a winter night’s celebration of India’s cultural richness and diversity.

On Saturday, January 24th, Burlington High School in the Boston suburbs was awash with the hues of the Indian tricolor and the many sounds and sights of the subcontinent. The stage was bustling with activity as various cultural groups prepared to perform for the overflow crowd.

The program started with a welcome speech by Mr. Rajinikant, Vice President, IAGB and was followed by an invocation by Dr. Vinod Chungi, Director, IAGB. After the national anthems were sung, Dr. Anupam Wali, President, IAGB gave an impassioned speech, urging Indian-Americans to set aside petty differences and come together as a stronger community. He said “IAGB strives to give a platform to the Indian community and to our children too help reinforce the culture, tradition and values of Indian life in America.”

Ms.Nirasha Jaganath of Saheli spoke about the various activities undertaken by the group. (Saheli, an affiliate of IAGB, is a South Asian women’s support group. Saheli provides friendship, support, guidance and resources to women in need.)

The chief guest of the evening was the Honorable Robert A. Havern, State Senator Commonwealth of Massachusetts (4th Middlesex District). Mr. Havern and other local political luminaries lauded the crowd on the anniversary of India’s adoption of its modern constitution and the fifty-four years of the Indian republic. Praising India’s democratic record, they urged the Indian-American community to become more active in local politics and the regions participatory democracy.

For the next two hours, local artistes treated the audience to a variety program comprising song, instrumental music, classical, folk and film dances. Various area cultural organizations presented a colorful mosaic of music and dance and tiny tots belted out one patriotic song after another, transporting one to the motherland.

The emcees for the evening kept the flow going introducing each item with a brief description.

Sagarika Kanjilal’s group opened the program with patriotic songs followed by Neelima Chaturvedi’s melodious group.

Young dancers from Eastern Rhythms performed 'Anjali’, an invocatory Bharthanatyam piece, following it up with 'Alarippu'.

Mandaara - the New England Kannada Koota presented a Kannada folk dance to the song 'Moodal Kunigal Kere', which was followed by Satsang balagokulam’s ‘Om Namah Sivayah’.

The Bal Vihar of Southboro offered a Bharat Mata Medley, celebrating the great heroes of India. The Triveni School of Dance shone with ‘Kalavati Thillana’ in the Kuchipudi style.

'Que Sera Sera', a dance by the Ekta group was well received by the audience while Lehrein, the Bollywood Medley dance brought the audience to their feet clamoring for more.

Next up was 'Dindi' by the Warkari group, reflecting an age old Maharashtrian tradition of the ardous but joyful religious trek from Alandi to Pandharpur in Maharashtra.

Tarangini Creations of Sharon wowed the discerning audience with a graceful Bharatanatyam rendition of the popular song from Dil Se ‘Jiya Jale Jaan Jale’. Another A.R. Rahman hit 'Dheem Ta Dare' from the film Takshak featured a Bharatanatyam style rendering by students of Preetha Arun.

'Thani Avarthanam' an excellent duet on Mridangam, the double sided drum directed by Pravin Sitaram was a hit with the audience as was 'Karthika Villaku', a folk dance from Kerala presented by a group of graceful Malayalee dancers.

The Fisherman dance 'Koli' of Maharashtra was performed by the New England Marathi Mandal . The fast paced Bollywood Masala Medley by the SPARKS Dance group had many members in the audience up and dancing.

Graceful dancers, dressed in colorful costumes danced 'Goff', a Gujarati traditional dance to a Hindi song. The twirling and untwirling of long pieces of fabric hung high up on the ceiling added an additional touch of class.

The group Chingariyan danced to ‘Mera Lang Gawacha’ a Bollywood version of a popular Punjabi song. Four young dancers performed 'Mera Maahi Bada Sona Hai' next.

The cultural program was nearing it’s end and the audience began clamoring for the piece de resitance, ‘Bhangra’.

Just before the boisterous conclusion, the audience was treated to a short solo dance and a Saxophone piece by two talented young men.

Lexington Bhangra had people lifted off their seats dancing and shouting to the beat of the song.

It was evident that Indian culture and traditions survive today regardless of time or place.

As the evening wore on, the auditorium was full of cheering crowds. Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, a Music Program entertained the public. The Lahiri Music group and Manjunath Boriah, Ramesh Hariharan and Radhika Hariharan presented variety music from Hindi and other Indian Languages. In addition to the roster of exciting cultural items on stage, folks enjoyed the sights, sounds, and tastes of India through out the venue. Tables and booths outside the auditorium featured non-profit organizations looking for support, and vendors representing many businesses serving the Indian-American community in Greater Boston.

IAGB also sponsored a bone marrow drive in coordination with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the National Marrow Donor Program. Dr. Bimalalangshu R. Dey who is an attending physician, Bone Marrow Transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital urged the people present to consider donating blood for Bone Marrow compatibility. Said Ms. Nirmala Garimella who was among the first to donate Blood, “ I applaud IAGB for taking this initiative and I hope more Indian Americans will come forward to participate in such drives in the future"

After the event Mr. Rajinikant, Vice President, IAGB opined “I really felt we accomplished what we set out to do which is to bring under one roof a variety of local artists to give us superb performances to make this Republic Day program better than ever before.”

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