The Festival of Festivals -- Discover India 2009
Sunny yet a cool Sunday November 22nd, was once again the perfect weather for the 8th annual Discover India 2009 festival. All day, visitors were surrounded by a bounty of sights, sounds and smells that so uniquely define the many festivals of India. As visitors walked in through any one of the entrances to the Heritage and Science park, they were drawn first to the wonderful aromas wafting from over 15 food vendor booths. One could taste foods from north, south east and west.. from dhokla, to bhel , chat, samosas, chholay pooris, from tandoori meats, to halal curries, from idli, vadai, dosas, to badaam drinks and mithai, ending with "chai" and paan.
At 1:30, while you were tasting these delectable delights, the sound of Dhol drew your attention to the approaching parade, and lo and behold! there it was, a parade of festivals. At the starting line were the "dancing and singing" India Association past presidents and lifetime members, followed by a grand "Ratha Yatra" processional from ISKCON. Parade watchers were treated to a regal vision of our Sikh community performing an athletic and lively Gidda, dressed in full regalia, Kannada Sangha's historic Karaga demonstration, and the Hindu temple and other's Holi Hangama. Guests were treated to a second parade around 2:30 with Malayalee association’s unique and dramatic dance parade.
All day the cooking and cultural demonstrations which included tasty Jalebi's , "Chitranna" and "Kosambari" from Kannada Sangha, a humorous demonstration of " Modaks" by Maharashtra Mandal, Dosas by the Malayalees Association, and "Simply Wonderful" by ISKCON, was well attended. The demonstrations were simple and wonderful. Organizers handed out recipes and vocabulary of Indian foods to viewers. As the parade groups reached the cultural demonstration stage, they culminated their procession with special demonstrations, such as the Ganapathi immersion ceremony, Holika Dahan, Sikh community performance. If you wondered what it took to wrap many yard of fabric as a turban, you had your answer in a wonderful presentation by Dr. S Sachdev on "Tying a Turban", with a few onlookers testing their skill and tying and keeping the turban on their head.
Over 40 youth committee(YC) volunteers ably lead by Poorva Rajguru & Saman Chopra, organized and hosted games and activity for the young ones. This year the youth group revived traditional Indian games such as "Pallanguli", "Navakanakari" in addition to popular Chess, Carom and Snakes and Ladders. From 2- 4:00 one could challenge the masters to a Carom game which kept Ratan Satpathi busy for the 2 hours. The Arizona Cricket Association enticed many to try their skill at the batting tent, which stayed busy all day.
Long lines for the Henna/Mehndhi, kept our "henna artists" busy all day. Two new features were "Decorate your own Diyas' and make your own Rakhi"-- a huge hit with the youth. Shariwa Oke designed a stage with puppets and offered story telling several times during the day, relating tales from the Mahabharata to an very attentive audience.
While one could experience Indian culture at every part of the park, the Main stage served as the anchor for a wide variety of superb dance, music and drama performances. Over 49 items were presented by dance schools, individuals and other community and cultural organizations. Special mention is deserved for some unique and exquisite performances, such as "Navarang" by Sheetal Karnik, an unusual representation of "yin/yan" male and female, although a solo performance, gave viewers the feeling of being more than one as her dance steps covered the entire stage. Fluid was Almagul Temirtekova's Gajarana. The "seasons" performed by Nita Mallaya depicting the different seasons, was true- to- form Bharat Natyam. Unusual and exceptional were the white clothed dancers with color splashed faces in Holi dance. In keeping with our fine Indian tendency to "breaking into dance & music" at festivals, the young "Bhangra Kings" impromptu call to join Meghana Rajaram's singing of " Nagada Nagada" stole our hearts. Our Indian customs and traditions were truly honored by our respected Seniors (our mothers and grandmothers) performing a beautiful "Diya Dance" celebrating Diwali to "maadi tarun kanku kharyun" (mother-- the sun rises from the "kumkum" that fell from your "tikka"), brought tears to many an eye and a standing ovation.
In addition to the main stage, the "Lath House" area included an extensive cultural display, with a Rangoli table, "Kulu" Navarathari display of dolls by Kannada Sangha, and the Ganapathi Processional Idol by Mahrashtra Mandal, and plethora of information about India, culture, foods and festivals. Many stopped by and barraged the volunteers with questions, in response to which the volunteers offered a challenge quiz --- testing the visitors’ knowledge about India.
As the sun set and the daylight turned to dusk, the crowds still remained consuming the last of the tasty morsels, and shopping-till-the daylight ran out at the thrift store, and the wide selection of clothes and jewelry vendors.