India Post News Service
NEW YORK: Indian colors - and not just orange, white and green - were splashed across midtown Manhattan's fashionable Bryant Park over four days, through music, dance and fashion showcased by the best of Indian artists.
Nestled among the beautiful highrise steel and glass structures on the Avenue of the Americas, Bryant Park came alive to contemporary Indian fusion music, folk dances and fashion shows, even as artists displayed amazing skills of traditional Indian pottery, weaving, embroidery, wood inlay work and so on in the stalls lining the park.
With the backdrop of a huge replica of the Taj Mahal looming high over the stage, renowned Indian musicians Shiva Mani, Colonial Cousins (Hariharan and Leslie Fernandes) and Remo Fernandez performed to packed seats while several more stood around to watch the performances.
Pulling the crowds were also dances like the Maharashtrian Lavni and even breathtaking Bollywood numbers specially choreographed by Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan.
Top designers Ritu Kumar and Raghavendra Rathore impressed with their top of the line creations. With a similar meticulousness, 10 of India's Master craftspersons demonstrated their skills at creating handicrafts. These are winners of National Awards and various other accolades.
Crafts such as marble inlay work and Tarakashi from Uttar Pradesh, Wood Inlay Work and Pottery from Delhi, Pattachitra from Orissa, Sozni embroidery work on Pashmina Shawls from Jammu & Kashmir, Shawl weaving from Gujarat, Meenakari from Rajasthan, Tribal Textile Weaving from Assam and Kantha Embroidery work from West Bengal are all exhibited.
Visitors lined up to get a glimpse of the miniature chess set at the Meenakari stall as also the collection of animals in the zoo box which are so minute that the pieces could be missed if not carefully looked at through a magnifying glass. In other stalls, peacocks woven on a silk sari mysteriously transformed into elephants when seen from the other side.
Looms of various sizes were also on display, which mystically bind two different threads into a fabric. Pots effortlessly emerged from the potter's wheel secured by the magical fingers of the potter. Visitors from all walks of life were astonished to see magic being created in front of their eyes.
Similar displays besides tantalizing Indian food beckoned visitors to South Street Seaport too. A joint initiative of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts, Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) & Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles the demonstrations provided an excellent opportunity to appreciate the finer details of the art forms of Incredible India.
Elsewhere at the Port Authority bus terminal on 8th Avenue, a magnificent sand sculpture of the Taj Mahal, created by renowned Indian sand sculptor Sudarsan Patnaik was on display.
As if that was not enough, hordes of people on the streets of New York City got an eyeful of the most impressive of Incredible India advertisements on the open-topped tourist buses, neon signs on top of 150 yellow taxis, four huge bill boards at Times Square, 120 panels at the majestic Grand Central station, 150 bus shelters across Manhattan, capturing the imagination of not only New Yorkers and tourists, but also visiting political leaders to the United Nations General Assembly session.
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