IndiaPost.com - Riverside's Citrus Park hosts India I-Day

RIVERSIDE: The 60th anniversary of India's Independence was celebrated Sunday in Riverside's Citrus State Historical Park. The program began at 10 am with the American National Anthem sung by Julius Gill and the India National Anthem was enthusiastically sung by everyone.

Harvir Bhatti and Guneet Singh introduced each item as Masters of Ceremony for the first half of the program. President Baljit Toor opened the program with a brief message, which was followed by a patriotic song sung by Alli Demani. A Redlands group consisting of Anjali Ayyappan, Ananya Kannan, Kavya Narayanan, Shriya Narayanan, Aman, Rishi Raj, Ansh, Jonatham Aman Gill, Akshay Balaji, Arjun Ayyappan, Aishani Sinha, Anuragini Sinha, Nidhi Kejriwal, Supriya Baskaran, Surya Baskaran, Srijen, Sidharth Malik, Maneesh Magal, Akansha Magal, Richa Jose and Emma Pooja Gill offered the first item, titled "Made in India." 10-year old Shyamlee Nanda spoke about freedom fighter Jhansi Ki Ram and 9-year old Sarojini Naidu reported on poetess Tanya Malik. Reetu Patel's troupe, The Bollywood Grooves, danced the next number, "Yeh Desh Hai Veer."

The boys carried bamboo sticks and the girls held baskets during the dance. Anaheim City Council Member Harry S. Sidhu paid an unexpected visit. He remarked, "Indians in America are called 'ITs for info techs but I say it means 'Indian talent." The applause was loud in response. Harry Sidhu gave a proclamation to President Baljit Toor.

He proceeded to award trophies to all of the participating children. Vaibhavi Shah and Tulsi Patel danced classical Bharatnatyam number titled "Nandakumara Krishna." Finally Ragini Iyer herself performed a Bharatnatyam dance to ever popular "Shri Ramachandra." A beautiful bouquet of pink roses was presented to Ragini in acknowledgement of her hard work. India Assn founder Raj Pakkianathan closed the program with a history of the association. It was a successful event.