Colorful 35th AIA-NY Deepavali celebrated at South Street Seaport

October 4, 2022

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, center, lights the traditional lamp, at AIA-NY’s 35th Deepavali celebrations at South Street Seaport. Joining him to light the lamp are AIA-NY President Harish Thakkar, left, and Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media Dr. Sudhir Parikh, right. Photo: ITV Gold

Traditional and fusion dancers, scrumptious food, music, a bazaar with variety of vendors, happy crowd, all went into making the 35^th annual Diwali celebrations at South Street Seaport, cheerful despite the not-so-friendly weather. The Association of Indians in America- NY chapter organized the event.

The celebrations were capped by a visit from the Mayor of New York City Eric Adams, who lit the traditional lamp along with leaders of the AIA-NY including President Harish Thakkar and Dr. Sudhir Parikh, chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media/ITV Gold, the media sponsors of the event.

Dr. Parikh, a Padma Shri recipient, praised organizers, especially Thakkar, for a successful festival and assured AIA-NY that he was there personally to support them as was his media conglomerate.

Attendees at the AIA-NY 35th Deepavali festival at South Street Seaport Oct. 2, 2022. From left, Nita Jain, Dr. Jagdish Gupta, Dr. Sudha Parikh, Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Harish Thakkar, and Mrs. Thakkar. Photo: ITV Gold

Several members of AIA wished everyone Happy Diwali and told ITV Gold they were happy the event took place. They included Dr. Jagdish Gupta, Nita Jain, who is also a Democratic District Leader, Vimal Goel, vice president of AIA, Nishant Garg, and Sunny Thakkar.

“Rain or shine, we still do the festival. There are a lot of vendors here. This is one of the biggest Diwali festivals, going on throughout the day” Harish Thakkar told ITV Gold.

Members of World Vegan Vision Drs. Shrenik Shah, Kalindi Bakshi, Suman Munjal, extolled the virtues of a vegan lifestyle in helping lower cholesterol, counter heart disease and diabetes.

A 23-minute fireworks display took place sponsored by Cheapo Air and Qatar Airways, at the end of the AIA-NY’s 35th Deepavali festival at South Street Seaport, Oct. 2, 2022, in NYC. Photo: courtesy AIA-NY

Fireworks sponsored by Cheapo Air and Qatar Airways, rose to the sky for 23 minutes, to everyone’s delight at the end of the event. During the fireworks, dinner was served on the Hudson, so that attendees had a ringside view.

Mayor Adams holding a proclamation congratulating AIA-NY and its President Harish Thakkar, at the AIA-NY 35th Deepavali festival at South Street Seaport Oct. 2, 2022. Photo: ITV Gold

Mayor Adams addressing the crowd from the stage said he is trying to push for including Diwali as a school holiday in the city. He urged the community to lobby councilmembers to strengthen the case for it. Heeta Thakkar, the daughter of Harish Thakkar, made an appeal saying all cultures and communities deserved a holiday.

The Mayor said he was very involved with Indian-American and other minority communities in the city and has been trying to address their concerns. He also said any concerns the community or businesses had should be brought to his attention.

A group of young dancers from the Khushi Dance school, were among several performers, including fushion dancers, bhangra etc., at the AIA-NY 35th Deepavali celebrations at South Street Seaport, Oct. 2, 2022. Photo: ITV Gold

Another group of dancers at the Oct. 2, 2022 Deepavali festival at South Street Seaport, an event hosted by AIA-NY. Photo: ITV Gold

A few thousand people came to the festival where there were 22 stalls, representing 8 different restaurants, non-profit groups, and jewelers, etc., as well as four corporates – New York Life, Cheapo Air, Qatar Airways, and Verizon, Harish Thakkar told Desi Talk.

Mayor Eric Adams with highly accomplished Bharatnatyam dancer and student, 14-year old Maheshwari Jagabattula, right, and Harish Thakkar, president of AIA-NY, at Oct. 2, 2022, Deepavali festival at South Street Seaport. Photo: courtesy AIA-NY

Several youthful dance groups showed their talent on stage, and Bollywood singer Rex D’Souza, and New Jersey’s Vidya Dave, performed at the event. Fourteen-year old Bharatnatyam dancer Maheshwari Jagabattula impressed the crowd with her performance. A semi finalist in India’s Got Talent season 5, she has won many accolades and at this young age is doing her Masters in Forensic Science at Pace University, NYC.

“We wanted to make the show go on and at the end of the day, people were happy the event happened,” despite inclement weather, Thakkar told Desi Talk.