India Association of Long Island celebrates Holi

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The India Association of Long Island, IALI, celebrated Holi at Asa’Mai Temple in Hicksville, New York, Sunday, March 13, 2022.

An invocation by Narinder Kapoor kick-started the event.

The Secretary Pradeep Tandon welcomed all guests and spoke of the significance of Holi. “Let us forget and forgive, repair broken relationships, and celebrate Holi with great fervor and joy,” he is quoted saying in a press release from IALI.

A 30-seconds silence was observed in memories of innocent victims of Ukraine, as well as for legendary Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, and Indian-American community leader Uma Sengupta who passed away in early March.

President Bina Sabapathy spoke about the goals of India Association of Long Island and the importance of celebrating and promoting Indian culture as its mission, and echoed the sentiments expressed by the Secretary, to forgive, forget the enmity, and embrace all the world.

More than 210 members, including New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, chief guest Consul Community Affair, Indian Consulate A.K. Vijaya Krishnan, Human Rights Commissioner & Friends for Good Health Dr, Bobby Kalotee, Zahid Syed, executive director for Asian American Affairs, community leaders, President IDP Deepak Bansal, Dr. Ravindra Goyal, chairman Indo American Festivals & President Hindu Center Flushing NY, Vibhuti Jha prominent journalist from Jaipur Dialogue USA, Past Presidents of IALI, Dr. Sharwan Bagla, Geetanjali Anand, Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan, Dr. Anila Midha, Mr. Satnam Singh Parhar and Lalit Aery.

Also present were Dr. Prabhakar Kale one of the five founding members of IALI with his wife Jayashree Kale. New York  Telangana Telugu Association President Ravinder Kamtam and his Executive Committee members, Professor Inder Jeet Saluja, chairman of The Indian Panorama, Veer Mukhi Secretary Arya Samaj of Long Island and his wife Savita Mukhi.

The Vice President of IALI Hargovind Gupta introduced the chief guest Consul A. K. Vijayakrishnan, who spoke about the Holi festival, the importance of Indian diaspora in U.S., and on Indian Visa and Passport issues that are faced by the community during the pandemic.

The other IALI Executive Council members present included Dr. Neeru Bhambri, Gary Sikka, Membership Chair Vimal Goyal, and Socio-Cultural Chair Veena Lamba.

Past President Dr. Sharwan Bagla, executive member of AAPIQLI presented a cheque of $1000.00 donation to IALI. He spoke about the collaboration between IALI and AAPIQLI, mentioned that during COVID, IALI collected funds that were given to AAPIQLI, and this was a return gift from AAPIQLI to IALI. He stated that eleven Past Presidents of IALI are members of AAPQLI.

Cultural Secretary Veena Lamba, presented an entertainment program with a Holi theme.

There were performances by students of Manek Malhotra from Sa Re Ga Ma Desi Beats and Shilpa Jhurani from Arya Academy, and solo performances by Angel Shah.

Holi songs were sung by Malhotra, Kulbhushan Sharma,  Gautam Chopra & Mr. Anil Dua. Long Island Hasya Kavi Dr. Krishna Jhaveri entertained the crowd with his timely jokes.