IAGB (India Association of Greater Boston) organized a day-long India Day event to commemorate the celebration of India’s 72^nd Independence Day on Sunday, 19Aug, 2018 at the Boston City Hall Plaza from 11:00am to 8:00pm. Thousands of people gathered to enjoy the presentation of various cultural performances. Several Exhibition and information booths were set up and the Indian Food Mela offered their unique and sumptuous Indian delicacies to all the audiences in the open venue under the shady trees.

India Association of Greater Boston (IAGB) is the oldest and one of the leading Indian-American organizations in the New England region. It serves the Indian-American communities in the Greater Boston area – Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. IAGB strives to foster a strong Indian-American’s socio-cultural and community presence in New England area. India Day Festival organizing teams and volunteers worked hard to put this event together and showcased the hidden talents of Indians especially children’s talents.

The morning program started with meditation and Yoga by Dev Lingadevaru and Dhanashree Ramachandran respectively. Field games that we all grew up enjoying such as lemon-spoon, three-legged races, musical quadrants, balloon throw for participants of all ages were played from 1:00pmto 3:00pm. The Cultural program stated at 3:00pm with US and Indian National Anthems by Noura khan and Neha Rathi respectively. Shri Sanjay K Gowda, Vice President of IAGB welcomed the audiences to the program and Smt Aditi Taylor, President of IAGB addressed the audience and highlighted major initiatives and engagements of IAGB in various community based activities. Introduction of IAGB Executive Committee Members and Youth Excellence Award Distribution were also presented to the audiences. IAGB Hall of Fame Awards were given to Judge Neil Sherring for Civic Contribution and Shri Girish Mehta for his Community Contributions. Mr. Charles D. Baker, Governor and Mr. Karyn E. Polito, Lieutenant Governor, Ms. Elizabeth Warren and Edwards J. Markey, United States Senators, and Shri Sandeep Chakravorthy, Consul General of India sent their greetings for the successful organization of India Day Festival. Smt Lata Rao, Mandy Deb Pant, Prag Singh, Sanjay Kudrimoti, and Umesh Rao meticulously managed the programs as EMCEEs of the event.

Ekal Vidyalaya presented the ‘Swagatam’ song written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and music composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. About 21 dance schools presented a mixture of classical to Bollywood to fusion kind of dances and entertained the audiences.  The first segment covered IAGB’s Got Talent event with solo and group performances that were selected by the online public voting and IAGB team evaluation. The second segment included the traditional cultural performances segment.  The cultural dance programs with their teachers/coordinators included were the Sparklers and Cowboys (Jyoti Setty), Hindustan Ki Jhaaki (Ekta Jain), Dhamaal Group (Ifica Mehra), Swag by Zhankar Beats Jr. (Vaishali Gade), Shape of You (Swasti Bhargava), Venello Brundavanama (Kiranmai Jannabhatla), Tapori Tadka, A Semi Classical Fusion of the Dances of India (Nivetha Ravichandran),  Mime by Natyarang (Director: Madhu Nene, and Sound Help: Shashank Nene), Fusion Bollystars (Center for Arts and Wellness), Ghoomer (Shivani and Ambika Wali), Westboro Couples Bollywood Medley (Shaila Verma), Dashavatar – Avatars of Lord Vishnu (Jab We met Group – Puja Harkut), Folk and Contemporary Bollywood Fusion (Prerna Patil), Dance – Lavani Mashup (Aditi Gaikwad, Sonali Shingare, Pooja Parulekar), Nikita’s BDA Dance Moms and Divas – Tribute to Our Beloved Sridevi (Nikita Rao). Boston Bangra was presented as a special item of the day at end of the program.

The Smar Tours which offers trips to the world’s most amazing destinations at an unbeatable value and its raffle draw information were introduced to the audiences for their upcoming tour plans. Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare also presented its various programs’ information to the audiences. Ms. Vaishali Gade, Secretary of IAGB proposed vote of thanks to the participants, audiences, dance Schools’ Coordinators/Teachers and students for their wonderful presentations.  She also thanked Corporate Sponsors such as Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, and BMW of Sudbury, Smar Tours and numerous advertisers who helped immensely in their own ways to make this this event a grand success.  She appreciated several local and other state vendors who also participated in the event with their unique items such as Sarees, Dresses, Jewelries and provided information packages related to Travel and Tour, Healthily Food Preparation, Role of Hindi Manch, Health care, Housing, Banking and Financing, Spirituality, Sports and many other areas of life. She acknowledged the efforts made by the local restaurant and caterers for their mouth-watering foods. She thanked from the bottom her heart the IAGB India Day Festival Organizing Team members and volunteers for their valuable time and dedication for making this event a grand success.

|