Geetha Patil
BOSTON: The India Association of Greater Boston( IAGB)  organized a day-long India Day event to celebrate India’s 72ndIndependence Day on Sunday, August 19 at the Boston City Hall Plaza from 11am to 8 pm. Hundreds of people attended and enjoyed various cultural performances.
 Several exhibition and information booths were set up and the Food Mela offered unique and sumptuous Indian delicacies in the open venue under shady trees.
The morning program started with meditation and Yoga by Dev Lingadevaru and Dhanashree Ramachandran respectively. Field games that we all grew up enjoying such as lemon-spoon, three-legged races, musical quadrants, balloon throw for participants of all ages were played from 1 to 3 pm. The cultural program started with US and Indian National Anthems by Noura Khan and Neha Rathi respectively. Â Sanjay K Gowda, Vice President of IAGB welcomed the audience. Aditi Taylor, President of IAGB in her address highlighted major initiatives and engagements of the organization in various community based activities.
This was followed with the introduction of IAGB Executive Committee Members and Youth Excellence Award Distribution ceremony. IAGB Hall of Fame Awards were given to Judge Neil Sherring for Civic Contribution and Girish Mehta for his Community Contributions. Charles D. Baker, Governor and  Karyn E. Polito, Lieutenant Governor, Elizabeth Warren and Edwards J. Markey, United States Senators, and  Sandeep Chakravorthy, Consul General of India sent their greetings on the occasion. Lata Rao, Mandy Deb Pant, Prag Singh, Sanjay Kudrimoti, and Umesh Rao meticulously managed the programs as Emcees of the event.
Ekal Vidyalaya presented the ‘Swagatam’ song written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and music composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. About 21 dance schools presented a mixture of classical to Bollywood to fusion kind of dances. The first segment covered IAGB’s Got Talent event with solo and
group performances that were selected by the online public voting and IAGB team evaluation. The second segment included the traditional cultural performances.
The cultural dance programs with their teachers/coordinators were: Sparklers and Cowboys (Jyoti Setty), Hindustan Ki Jhaaki (Ekta Jain), Dhamaal Group (Ifica Mehra), Swag by Zhankar Beats Jr. (Vaishali Gade), Shape of You (Swasti Bhargava), Venello Brundavanama (Kiranmai Jannabhatla), Tapori Tadka, A Semi Classical Fusion of the Dances of India (Nivetha Ravichandran), Mime by Natyarang (Director: Madhu Nene, and Sound Help: Shashank Nene), Fusion Bollystars (Center for Arts and Wellness), Ghoomer (Shivani and Ambika Wali), Westboro Couples Bollywood Medley (Shaila Verma), Dashavatar – Avatars of Lord Vishnu (Jab We met Group – Puja Harkut), Folk and Contemporary Bollywood Fusion (Prerna Patil), Dance – Lavani Mashup (Aditi Gaikwad, Sonali Shingare, Pooja Parulekar), Nikita’s BDA Dance Moms and Divas – Tribute to Our Beloved Sridevi (Nikita Rao). Boston Bangra was presented as a special item of the day at end of the program.
The Smar Tours got introduced to the audience for their upcoming tour plans while Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare proffered health related information. Vaishali Gade, Secretary of IAGB proposed vote of thanks to all those present besides  Corporate Sponsors such as Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, and BMW of Sudbury, Smar Tours and numerous advertisers helping  in their own ways to make this this event a grand success. She thanked vendors who participated in the event with their unique items such as sarees, dresses, jewelries and provided information
IAGB is the oldest and one of the leading Indian-American organizations in the New England region. It serves the Indian-American communities in the Greater Boston area – Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island
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