Community in Hicksville, N.Y., Celebrates India’s Independence Day With Parade

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Under the banner of India Day Parade USA and the slogan “Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan” Indians, Indian-Americans, and South Asians, in Hicksville, N.Y. celebrated India’s 73rd Independence Day Aug. 4.

The 7th Annual Parade was organized by IDP USA and started from Patel Brothers on Broadway and ended with festivities at E Barclays Street.

They had celebrity Grand Marshalls, the Consul General of India in New York Sandeep Chakravorty, Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao, Naveen Shah of Navika Capital, businessman Chintu Patel. Also present were elected officials including Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi; Nassau and Suffolk County State Senators Kevin Thomas and Anna Kaplan; Nassau County Executive Laura Curran; Supervisor of North Hempstead Judy Bosworth; Supervisor of Oyster Bay Joseph Saladino; Supervisor of Hempstead Laura Gillen; State Assembly Members Laura Schaefer and Rose Marie Walker; Farrah Mozawalla of the Nassau County Minority Affairs office; Suffolk County Human Rights Commissioner and 3 times Past President of IDP Beena Kothari; and Nassau Human Rights Commissioner Zahid Syed. Other notable attendees included the President of the parade Jasbir (Jay) Singh, Kamlesh C Mehta, and several community leaders as well as invited guest Arti Patel, co-CEO of Vass Pipe & Steel Co; Sunil Jain, Chanchal Shah.

Advisors for the parade Indu Jaiswal, Sir Peter Beddah, Beena Kothari, Mukesh Modi and other Committee members Mohinder Taneja, Bina Sabapathy, Shashi Malik, Gautam Sanghvi to name a few, inaugurated the parade at Patel Brothers. Satbir Bedi was the emcee for the day. Breakfast was hosted by Patel Brothers and HAB Bank before the flag off.

“The South Asian Community has become an integral part and changed the face of Long island and made Hicksville a prominent, ever developing multicultural home for all Indians sharing pride, passion, presence and social bond as patriotic American Indians,” said a press release from organizers.

Many in the crowd held India’s Flag tricolor umbrellas sponsored by Mohinder Singh Miglani of Aero World.

Many organizations from Long Island marched in groups and the tricolor decorated festive floats sponsored by local organizations. Flowers were showered by a helicopter on the whole parade presenting a spectacle for the local residents and visitors.

At the festival grounds, cultural dances by children and students of local dance schools were performed at the beginning and other celebrities were invited to perform on stage after the parade reached E Barclays Street.

Bollywood singer Deepak Kumar of Satellite India and Punjabi stage artist and singer Pooja, had the crowd cheering, taking videos and pictures.

A fashion show by Nishi Behl sponsored by Bhavna Sharma of Sarashiva, was held accompanied by upbeat music and beautiful clothes and glamorous ladies.

Naveen Shah of Navika Capital presented a BMW SUV as the super prize of the raffle which had several other prizes including two 50” LG smart TVs. The raffle made sure the crowd kept going back to the three IDP raffle booths. All prizes were drawn on stage and the BMW was won by an especially abled individual.

The recipients of part of the proceeds from the parade were ‘Akshay Patra’ and ‘CRY’, “two organizations that have led by example and changed the lives of thousands with their selfless mission for providing school lunch to poor children and for restoring children’s rights,” the press release said.

The organization IDP USA was started in 2012 and founded by Bobby Kumar Kalotee, Kamlesh Mehta and prominent community leaders. IDP USA 2019 was supported by a 108-member team, countless volunteers, and numerous business sponsors.

The 7th Annual India Day Parade was held in Hicksville, N.Y. Aug. 4, 2019. The slogan of the Parade was “Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan” to recognize the contributions of India’s troops and farmers. Many important public officials and community leaders showed up to register their support for India’s memorable 73rd Independence Day celebrations organized by IDP-USA.