Hundreds Enjoy India’s Independence Day in Central Jersey

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The Indo-American Cultural Foundation of Central Jersey (IACFNJ), a non-profit organization, celebrated India’s 74^th Independence Day on Saturday, August 13, 2021, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Vadtal Dham, in South Brunswick, New Jersey.  Approximately 400 people attended the “fun-filled patriotic” event which was free and open to all public, a press release from IACFNJ said.

Organizers said this was the tenth year of the celebrations in the more than 15-year old organization’s life, and the event was a success just as in previous years – a patriotic celebration of India’s Independence Day event with fun-filled entertainment and cultural activities, including henna tattoos,  traditional Indian and patriotic dance performances, DJ, live music/singing and authentic Indian food sampling all in the outdoors of the temple grounds.

The program included singing of the American and Indian Anthems by youth, Aruhi and Ashna, who also choreographed the ceremony.

Local and state public officials and dignitaries addressed the gathering and youth from local dance groups performed patriotic dances.

The South Brunswick Mayor Charlie Carley, Deputy Mayor Joe Camarota, former Mayor of Montgomery and NJ State Assembly candidate Sadaf Jaffer, former US Congressman and Senate candidate Mike Pappas, South Brunswick School Board Members and President Barry Nathanson, Mike Mitchell, Smitha Raj and Joyce Mehta were among the dignitaries showing their support and congratulating Indian Americans for the Independence Day.

The temple management and their dedicated volunteers provided support to IACFNJ for this event. Rakesh Patel, Kaushal Rao, Ghanshyam Purani and Dhirubhai Patel along with their other team members took care of the logistics to support this event.

The live DJ and music were provided by DJ Ashish.

The New Jersey Department of Health along with Walgreens Pharmacy organized free COVID-19 vaccines open to all.

IndusTV was the media sponsor for this event as were numerous others including  ITV Gold, Parikh Worldwide media.

Surabhi Agarwal, Naina Goel, Dimple Patel, Niyati Patel and Kirti Mehta of the cultural committee worked to make this event a huge success, the press release said.

South Brunswick, an ethnically diverse township where South Asians especially Indians, make up more than 25% according to the latest census, organizers said in the press release.

Members of the community from the surrounding towns of North Brunswick, East Brunswick, Franklin, Somerset, Monroe, Princeton, Princeton-Junction and West Windsor attended the event.

The IACFNJ said it has been a leader in promoting South Asian culture and values the diversity, with the goal of transferring them to the newer generation by organizing many activities such as the summer picnic, Navratri Garba, cultural events to raise funds to support the local organizations and Diwali and Christmas celebrations.  The next IACFNJ mega event will be Summer Picnic on Sunday, August 22, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Mercer County Park, West Picnic area.  Upcoming, Navratri Garba in South Brunswick will be organized by IACFNJ on October 8, 9, 15 and 16, 2021.