Ambassador Randhir Jaiswal said to the gathering that his wife Dr. Abha Jaiswal joined him in thanking them and that he looked forward to meeting them again.A view of the gathering. Seen, among others , from L to R: Deputy Consul General Dr. Varun Jeph, Dr. Abha Jaiswal (3rd from left), Vikas Khanna, Prof. Indrajit Saluja, Harry Panaser, Ranju Batra, Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Jagdish Sewhani.
I.S. Saluja
NEW YORK CITY (TIP): Consul General Randhir Jaiswal and Dr. Abha Jaiswal hosted a get together to bid farewell to friends and community at the Consulate on November 29. Ambassador Jaiswal heaped praises on the Indian American community for their contribution to strengthening India in a number of ways. Their contribution to the growth of India and strengthening of relations between India and the US received his adulation. “ As India grows by leaps and bounds we will count on your support to take us forward”, he said.
He attributed his success in ensuring efficient services to the community to his colleagues at the Consulate who were committed to their work.
Ambassador Jaiswal thanked the gathering for their presence and said they would meet again (Phir Milenge).
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman speaks on the occasion. To his right is Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, and to his left is Ragini Srivastava.Senator Kevin Thomas presents a proclamation from the NY Senate to Prof. Saluja.Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar and Ragini Srivastava present proclamation on behalf of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman to Ambassador Jaiswal who also received a proclamation for Dr. Abha Jaiswal.Crowning of “Mahamoorkh” Tirlok Malik. Crowning ceremony was performed by Ambassador Jaiswal, Ravi Batra, a former “Mahamoorkh”, and members of the organizing committee of Holi & Hola celebrations.County Executive Bruce Blakeman enjoying the Gatka performance.Ambassador Jaiswal watching a performance
HICKSVILLE, NY (TIP): The Indian Panorama organized the fourth Holi & Hola celebrations at Antun’s by Minar here on March 19, 2023. Attended by over a hundred guests, the event exhibited the fraternal bonds between the diverse Indian diaspora. The very idea of celebrating Holi and the Sikh Hola Mohalla together is to promote brotherhood and amity among Indian Americans practicing diverse faiths and cultures.
A display of the rich cultural heritage impressed the guests who included the chief guest Ambassador Randhir Kumar Jaiswal, Consul General of India at New York, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, New York State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, Town of North Hempstead Clerk Ragini Srivastava, Nassau County former Human Rights Commission chairman Zahid Ali, Ravi Batra, Chair, the National Advisory Council on South Asian Affairs, AK Vijaykrishnan , Consul, Community Affairs, among others.
A thrilling display of the Sikh traditional martial art called Gatka by the Akal Gatka Gurmat Group led by Sardar Daler Singh, President of Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana left everyone spell bound Before the Gatka performance. Master Mohinder Singh, a senior leader of the Sikh community, a founder President of Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana, spoke about the traditional Sikh martial art.
The Gatka performance evoked from County Executive Bruce Blakeman the comment that he had never ever witnessed such a thrilling performance. He was simply awe-struck. The other attractive performances included Holi Dance by the dancers from Rhythm Dance Academy, Bollywood Medley Dance by dancers from RS International group, and a Holi Song by a Florida based celebrated singer Kadambini.
Prachi Makkar’s Punjabi songs and Bolian brought many to the dance floor. Surya Makkar on Punjabi Dhol was a great accompanist to his sister Prachi. Bollywood singer and director Vicky Kohli regaled with his lovely singing.
The gathering
One of the attractions of the celebrations was the selection of the traditional Holi “Mahamoorkh”. Emmy nominated film maker and actor Tirlok Malik was crowned Mahamoorkh through a draw of lots.
Speaking on the occasion, County Executive Bruce Blakeman said:
“On the occasion of Holi and Hola. I convey my warmest wishes to all our Indian American community members here in Long Island and we are thankful to Professor Indrajit Saluja for organizing a very beautiful function to get everybody together to celebrate our culture and heritage. We celebrate every race and every religion.
“You are such an important part of the fabric of Nassau County. Think about what your contributions have been in medicine, law, business, finance, education, technology. Your contributions make this a better County and a better country.”
In an interview to the TV channels Global Punjab and TV Asia Mr. Blakeman said: “I am glad to be here at Antun’s in Hicksville celebrating with all my Indian Sikh friends for The Indian Panorama Holi and Hola festival. We love the Indian Americans that live here in America. They contribute so much to our county and country- medicine, technology, education, business; Indian American community contributes so much. They make us a greater County and I’m so blessed to be here. Thank you all. God bless you and have a wonderful festival.”
Gatka performance by Akal Gatka Gurmat Group. (Photos : Jay Mandal-on assignment)
Ambassador Randhir Kumar Jaiswal, Consul General of India at New York who has always maintained a close contact with the Indian American community and taken keen interest in its various activities was the chief guest. In his brief address, he praised the Indian American community for preserving and promoting Indian culture.
The Consul General said:
“I convey my warmest wishes to all our Indian American community members here in Long Island and we are thankful to Professor Indrajit Saluja for organizing a very beautiful function to get everybody together to celebrate our culture and heritage.” Others who spoke on the occasion included Senator Kevin Thomas, Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar and Town of North Hempstead Clerk Ragini Srivastava.
A dance performance by the dancers from Rhythm Dance Academy.Bollywood Medley Dance by dancers from RS International group.
Earlier, welcoming the guests, Prof. Indrajit S Saluja said the idea of organizing the Holi and the Hola Mohalla together was prompted by his desire to promote a feeling of togetherness, amity and brotherhood between the two major communities of Indian origin here. He thanked the gathering for their response and support.
The organizing committee which worked real hard for the success of the event included Indu Jaiswal, Jyoti Gupta, Amita Karwal, Gunjan Rastogi, Shashi Malik, Anu Jain, Jag, Jaskiran Saluja, and Parveen Chopra. “A lot of thanks to the greatest team”, Prof. Saluja said.
He also thanked his family for their support and advice always.
The media persons were extremely supportive and deserve all thanks, said Prof. Saluja. TV Asia, PTC TV , ITV , Global Punjab deserve special gratitude for the extensive coverage of the event.
Parminder was a great DJ , as usual, with excellent sound service.
Anmol Dhawan was a great help with banners and publicity. The Indian Panorama is grateful to the young man who has always been supportive. Not to forget the great photographer Jay Mandal whose clicks will surely please our readers. Thank you, Mr. Mandal for your support.
The food catered by Mr. Neetoo of Antun’s by Minar received approval and praise from all guests who looked forward to another attendance at the place.
Kadambini sings a Holi song.Surya Makkar on Dhol and Prachi Makkar singing Punjabi songs and bolian.Vicky Kohli regaled with his lovely singing.
NEW YORKCITY(TIP): Five eminent Indian-origin women were honored at the Indian Consulate on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.
The Federation of Indian Associations, in association with the Consulate General of India in New York held its fifth annual International Women’s Day celebrations on March 8 and honored five women for their outstanding achievements.
Among the awardees was Deputy Mayor of New York City, Meera Joshi, an attorney by profession, who in her current role has accomplished several significant achievements, including transport innovations and equity cabinet. She also played a key role in implementing New York City’s Vision Zero program — a comprehensive strategy aimed at reducing traffic fatalities and injuries, the statement said. The other awardee was Radha Subramanyam, president and chief research and analytics officer at CBS – TV Net Corp. An award-winning media executive, Subramanyam has also been recognized as one of the ‘100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry’ by Automotive News.
Hina Patel is a TEDx speaker and executive leader leading a 200-employee engineering firm in three states. FIA said Patel is an advocate of women’s rights in workplaces and has worked towards gender equity.
Padmini Murthy is a physician and global health leader at the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) and has worked tirelessly to improve access to healthcare services, particularly for underserved women, the FIA said.
She has initiated several global health programs that focus on women’s health such as the women’s eye health taskforce and the Global Health council’s Maternal, Newborn and Child Health initiative.
Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter Falu Shah was also honored at the event that was also addressed by Dr Abha Jaiswal. Shah was, however, unable to attend the function as she was in India where she performed at the inauguration of the cricket test match between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal, congratulated the 2023 recipients and encouraged the community to engage in more meaningful and community-impacting events.
JAMAICA, NY (TIP): Dr. Hari Shukla and Kirti Shukla hosted at their home in Jamaica Estate, on April 19, the Consul General of India Mr Randhir Jaiswal and his wife Dr. Abha Jaiswal to a dinner with a few community leaders.
The community leaders included Harshad Patel , Pakaji,President ,Gujarati Samaj,Anil Shah , Chairman Vaishnav temple Long Island, Mukund Mehta, President of Indi-American Seniors and Chairman of India Home, Dr Vipul Patel BAPS Swaminarayan Temple, Flushing, Malini Shah, Indo-American organization of Queens, Hemant Shah, President Floral Park, Bellerose, Indian MerchantsAssociation, HK Shah and Malti Shah, Founder of World Vegan Vision, Dr Nita Jain, Democratic District Leader, Queens, Mohinder Verma, Jackson HeightsIndian Merchants’ Association, Prof. Indrajit Saluja, President The Indian Panorama, Manish Dave, Jai Sachidanand Sangh, New York, Bina Sabapathy, President, IALI, Nilima Madan, Indian Association of North America, Haridas Kotahwala, Chairman, Navika Group of Companies, and Vimal Goyal, India Association of North America. Dr Mrugank Shukla, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Queens and Dr Mehool Shukla, NYU -Langone Hospital also joined.
Dr Hari Shukla, President and Founder of South Asians of New York, Inc explained through slides the projects he has been doing through his organization. The charitable projects included distribution of food and clothing. He said he had plans to expand the area or work.
Consul General Mr. Jaiswal had a word of appreciation for the humanitarian wok Dr. Shukla was doing. He said he was very happy to find the Indian American community taking up humanitarian projects in quite a large number here and also taking all care to pay back to their motherland. He added that the NRIs were real strength of India.
Speaking about the importance and utility of such group meetings, Mr. Jaiswal said they provided opportunities to know one another , and more importantly, share thoughts and ideas. He thanked Dr. Hari and Kirti Shukla for organizing the meet and greet. Dr. Abha Jaiswal who holds a BDS also spoke on the occasion. She said it pleased her a lot to see how the Indian American community is contributing to India and also appreciated their role in being a bridge between the two countries. The Shuklas treated the guests to a delicious Gujarati dinner.
Consul General Randhir Kumar Jaiswal speaks with The Indian Panorama Chief Editor Prof. Indrajit S Saluja.
Ambassador Randhir Jaiswal is a career diplomat. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1998. In his over two decades of diplomatic career so far, he has served in Portugal, Cuba, South Africa and at the Permanent. Mission of India in New York. In between his overseas assignments, he served in New Delhi at the Ministry of External Affairs, first as Deputy
Secretary looking after India’s relations with the United States of America, and then as Joint Secretary managing India’s relations with West European countries. In the middle of 2017, he was deputed to serve the President of India as Joint Secretary managing his international relations portfolio.
Randhir Jaiswal is passionate about sports, environment, culture,monuments, old cities and cuisines. He is deeply interested in strategic, sustainable development and public policy issues. He has been part of India’s delegation at various Climate Change Conferences and was the lead negotiator for the G-77 countries at the RIO+20 Conference held in Brazil in 2012.
He holds a Master’s degree in History from Delhi University, India. He speaks Hindi, English, Portuguese and Spanish and is conversant with several dialects of Bihar, India, the State he comes from.
He is married to Dr. Abha Jaiswal, a public health expert. The couple has two daughters.
Ambassador Jaiswal was kind enough to accept our invitation to sit for an interview which was conducted in his office on March 24, 2022.
TIP: Good morning! Thank you for giving The Indian Panorama your valuable time to speak with us. It has been more than one and a half year since your last interview to The Indian Panorama. I am keen to get your valuable views and comments on certain issue.
Consul General: Thank you very much your gracious invitation. It is always a pleasure to speak to the Indian Panorama and through you to the larger Indian American community and the diaspora in the United States. It is a privilege I would say, to serve India, to fly the flag of India and serve the larger Indian American family that we have here. In spite of COVID We have tried our best to stay connected, tried our best to keep our service delivery on a smooth and inefficient track. And I would say that on that account, I’m very grateful to the team here. By my own judgment we have done a decent work and hopefully others in the community would also think so.
You know, we have been, in spite of COVID, open since May of 2020. Not many consulates or other government establishments here in New York and some other cities can talk of that. But we have done it. We have 70 people here who have been coming every day since May of 2020. And that has allowed us to keep us doing our best for the community and maintain the connect with India. We have done, I think a decent job in staying connected with the community and we received excellent support. And in spite of the limitations, let me tell you I have been able to go and meet them, give my regards to them, pay my respects to them, and to learn from them and to share our joys and happiness with them.
TIP: Thank you so much. Community has always been a priority with you. You have always tried to see to it that there are conditions created in the consulate to make people happy with the services. There may have been conflicts here and there, and despite the fact that there are sometimes very unpleasant people or unpleasant circumstances, but then by and large what I have heard from people is that they have been getting good service, and I think, you deserve to be complimented on that. But then there are so many areas you know where may think that there is something more to be done. Do you think you are aware of the areas where some more work is needed for better functioning of the Consulate?
Consul General: There are several aspects to functioning. We have to maintain healthy community relations. We have to have an efficient delivery of consular services. We have to have greater engagement or deeper engagement with the economic stakeholders so that we can strengthen the India US economic technology and trade connect. And also, you know, in general, support India s friendship through conversations with other stakeholders that are there. So, there are several aspects to our work here. Because of COVID, yes, there have been limitations in terms of meetings. We had to do with a virtual engagement even as we would have liked to do more physical engagements. We wanted to do more work on that account but because of COVID we have not been able to do so. But now that the COVID is going into the background, we look forward to doing more of that. Also, because of COVID, we had to stop people from coming into the consulate for health reasons. Now we have resumed walk-in services. So, hopefully many of the challenges that people encountered earlier will not be there. There is a range of stakeholders who come into play once you put your documents into the mail. With walk-in they can get the services and go back home. We also have now opened ourselves for open house so people who have issues to discuss they can come on a particular day announced by the Consulate and discuss the issues. So, it will help us. We are now going back to the normal duty that we had as far as consular services are concerned. We have now restored long term 10-year visa. People will not have a problem anymore. So is the case with E visa now. All that has been restored. So hopefully all that, you know, will help in better services or better engagement of the diaspora and the community with the consulate and with India in general.
TIP: Would you like to elaborate for our readers this reopening of various visas now?
Consul General: We had the long term 10-year visa which was issued to a large number of people here for the United States. We had, and several other countries you know, had put restrictions on the long-term visa because we wanted to know exactly and have some predictability in the number of people coming into India because of COVID concerns. Now we have restored them. So, 10-year visas that were issued to people are good enough. They don’t have to reapply. That was one of the fears in the minds of the people.
So, 10-year visa, if you had, say, in 2017 it was valid till 2027. You’re good to go. We are also some time back started one year tourist visa which is free of cost -first half a million tourist visas free of cost. It is free of cost one year tourist visa to be utilized in 120 days, which is four months. We also have a tourist visa for one year and a tourist visa five years. All the visa regulations that we had, prior to March of 2020, which were suspended because we were in COVID , they all have been restored.
Consulate@Your Doorstep: 600+ applicants availed OCI and other Consular Services at the Consular Camp held at Burlington, MA on April 9, 2022. Applicants thanked Consulate for saving their trip to New York otherwise. The camp was held in association with IAGB
TIP: How about the OCI Card? What are the latest rules? How long does it take to get an OCI Card?
Consul General: From the day the application comes to the consulate, on the 22nd day we are in a position to issue the OCI card.
TIP: There is a one that is one particular situation that has been described to me by many people. There are people who left India, say 20 years ago 15 years ago, somewhere on the way they lost their passport. A police report is required in the case of a lost passport. But then there is nobody living now at the India address given in the Indian passport. How can the police report from India be obtained?
Consul General: In that case we will ask from him for more details. If he’s able to provide the information, we’ll see how to reverse that situation. In certain cases what happens is that people have been staying here for long. So, we have in our system, automatic trigger, that verification is sought from your hometown or the place of residence that you’ve inquired and then you’ve entered. If we get a report back that a person is not there, then we see how best to deal with it. So, we are able to deal with the situation and find a solution to help our people. So, it’s not a problem.
TIP: We have a large student population in your consular jurisdiction. I’ve been watching there is not the kind of connection between the consulate e and those students. And I think when last we met, I did ask you a question about these students. Have you been able to apply your mind to how best you can, you involve them with the rest of the Indian diaspora or how best you can utilize their services for the nation?
Consul General:It’s a very valid question. So, one, I would like to tell you is that in spite of limitations of the COVID whichever function we have here students have been involved . There are 50,000 to 60000, could be more students in the 10 States under New York Consular jurisdiction. The second thing we want all students and Indian nationals to register with the embassy, with the consulate in our jurisdiction. We have put a registration link on our website. It is important for cases of emergency that we are able to reach out to student community and we urge all of them to come and register so that we can stay connected. We have
consular camps , consulate at your doorstep every month. And it is our idea at least, to try to do two every month. So, we are reaching out to all the 10 states.
And also a lot of our services now, especially in the visa site are available. Nobody needs to come to the consulate physically You can sit in the room, take your visa and go to India. So, a lot of it is because of digitization, a lot of services and we will move in that direction more and more, as we move forward in the digital age. We have a large diaspora and a growing diaspora. So, in the days to come possibly we’ll have more consulates here. But it’s a work in progress
TIP: Now coming to 75 years of independence, which is, of course a landmark event for this year, all over the world preparations are being made. What are the preparations being considered here?
Consul General: We launched India at 75 in New York last year with a remembrance of the sacrifice of all our freedom fighters. And since then we’ve had a series of events, cultural programs, talk shows, virtual programs. We have a long list of those programs and many people have actually participated in them. We had a conversation on Gandhara art at the Met Museum on March 19th.
TIP: Talking about all those challenges may require probably a book. But I will request you to at least identify one biggest challenge that you faced ever since you came to New York less than two years ago.
Consul General: So, you know, the responsibility here is large because we’re dealing with a large population size in 10 states. So, I would say COVID itself has been a challenge, a major challenge that physically you’re separated. There are several limitations which come into our way.
You know, one of the biggest complaints we received was that I have sent you have received, but from your side we have not received after the service has been delivered. Now, every time we had to explain to people that we have dispatched it, but people would say, each time the delay was on the part of the service provider, it was put on our account. We did try to get in touch with the FedEx or UPS or whoever to please try and see if they can barcode it but they have their own system. . The person who picks it up from here is not the person who just has to barcode it. People should also understand that this is a situation which we encounter. You know, the world is still going through the pandemic. It happened once in 100 years. The last big pandemic that happened was in 2018. So, it was a very unusual situation and time zone challenge. But, again, we are almost back to normal, difficulties, inconveniences, challenges notwithstanding.
Dr. Abha Jaiswal congratulated the honorees and spoke about the changing attitude to women (Photo / Jay Mandal -on assignment)Honorees with the chief guest Consul General of India Mr. Jaiswal and Dr. Abha Jaiswal (Photo / Jay Mandal -on assignment)Organizers and honorees with Mr. Jaiswal and Dr. Abha Jaiswal. (Photo : Jay Mandal -on assignment)
NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Consulate General of India and the FIA organized International Women’s Day on March 8 at the Indian Consulate. On the occasion, six eminent women were honored. They included Ms Sejal Lakhani Bhatt, Hon Deepti Vaid Dedhia, JMC, Ms Seema Kumar, Ms Chaya Pamula, Ms Allison Hauser, and Ms. Priyanka Brahmbhatt.
Consul General of India in his remarks spoke about the progress India has been making in various areas. He said the gender equality was an issue which the government of India considered very important. He congratulated the FIA ladies for organizing the event.
Others who addressed the gathering included Dr. Abha Jaiswal, FIA officials and the honorees.
Deputy Consul General Dr. Varun Jeph congratulated the honorees and thanked the organizers and the guests.
Earlier, Consul for Culture Mr. Vipul Dev welcomed the gathering.
Inner view of the temple with devotees in prayers.Consul General Randhir Kumar Jaiswal speaks. Seen in the picture, from L to R: Kamlesh Mehta, Publisher of The south Asian Times, Dr. Abha Jaiswal, Consul General, Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori and Dr. Subhadra Nori.
I.S. Saluja
BALDWIN, NY (TIP): Sai Temple, Baldwin celebrated 20th anniversary July 4. Consul General of India at New York, Randhir Kumar Jaiswal was the chief guest. He was accompanied by his wife Dr. Abha Jaiswal. Dr. Gaddam Reddy, Chairman, Hindu Temple was the guest of honor. He was accompanied by Mrs. Reddy.
On the occasion, special prayers were offered. An 8-page supplement on the institution was also released.
In his brief address, Consul General spoke of the huge following of Sai Baba. He took out of his pocket a memento from Shirdi Sai Baba while telling the gathering that he himself has great faith in Sai Baba who recommended simple living and having patience and faith in Sai Baba.
Mr. Jaiswal commended the services of Dr.Dattatreyudu Nori and his wife Dr. Subhadra Nori, and wished them all success with their projects to come.
Dr. and Mrs. Nori honored the Consul General and his wife. The guest of honor Dr Reddy and Mrs. Reddy too were honored, as were some more for their association with and services to the temple.
Earlier, Dr. Nori spoke at length about the setting up of the Sai temple at Baldwin 20 years ago. He said since then 2 more Sai temples have been added. One in New Jersey and another, recently, in Hicksville. A short video was also screened.
About Nori Foundation
Nori Foundation USA Inc. was started by Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori and his wife Dr. Subhadra Nori in the year 1998, as a modest gesture in memory of his parents, Late Sri. Satyanarayana Nori and Late Smt. Kanaka Durgamba Nori. The charitable trust serves the needy in the fields of medical relief, education, and community services. Nori Foundation has established Sai Mandir in Baldwin, New York in the year 2002. To fulfill the requests made by several Sai Baba devotees, SaiMandir USA Hicksville NY was started in 2020
Since their inception, both the centers have been serving the community and standing as a source of inspiration and tranquility and peace to all the Sai devotees. The places have evolved into a sacred Shirdi for the USA East Coast region and facilitate worship services similar to that in Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir in Shirdi, India. The main objective is to promote the gist of his teachings and philosophy of Sai Baba, Shraddha (devotion) and Saburi (patience).
Nori Foundation Inc, in addition to community service, also promotes harmony among all cultures, promotes human values and provides sanctum for everyone. Nori Foundation stands as a model on how to accomplish collectively and with integrity.
A colorful welcome to the chief guest and his family. L to R: Ms Jaiswal, Dr. Abha Jaiswal, Consul general Randhir Jaiswal, Pinky Jaggi, Indu Gajwani, Amita Karwal, Jyoti Gupta, Anu Jain, Rizwan Qureshi and Prof. Saluja. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Jaskiran Saluja, a member of the organizing committee welcoming guests on behalf of The Indian Panorama, the organizing committee, and the community. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Ambassador Randhir Jaiswal pays a floral tribute at Dr. Ajay Lodha’s portrait to all those who died of COVID-19. Dr. Ajay Lodha, a darling of the Indian American community died of COVID last year after an eight-month long struggle to survive. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Consul General Jaiswal remarked that it was a great pleasure to see people from diverse communities getting to celebrate in a spirit of brotherhood the Holi and the Hola festivals. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Guest of Honor Harry Bolla, Chairman/ CEO of Bolla Group of Companies was very appreciative of the Gatka players. He announced a gift of $1100 to the group. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Gatka players with the chief guest, guests of honor, organizers and community representatives. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Attorney Ravi Batra shared his experience and impressions of COVID-19 (Photo / Vijay Shah)Gayatri Balsara and Anjana Moolayfrom Muktambar Fine Arts Academy, New Hyde Park performing a classical dance. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Prachi Makkar (left) sang a Punjabi song with her brother Surya Makkar providing exciting Dhol beats. And they made guests dance. (Photo / Vijay Shah)Vicky Kohli, in the background, made ladies dance to his melodious singing. L to R: Pinky Jaggi, Abha Jaiswal, Jyoti Gupta, Ranju Batra, Indu Gajwani (Photo / Vijay Shah)Mr. Balasubramaniam Elango, Chief Executive, Bank of Baroda, New York, chosen in a draw of lots the Mahamoorkha, an old tradition at Holi celebration, is being crowned by Consul General Randhir Jaiswal. To Mr. Elango’s left is seen the Mahamoorkha of 2019 Mr. Ravi Batra.A view of the gathering (Photo / Vijay Shah)Consul General Randhir Jaiswal being honored with a shawl by Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, publisher of The Indian Panorama on behalf of the organizing committee and the community (Photo / Vijay Shah)Consul General Jaiswal (seated 6th from left) and Dr. Abha Jaiswal (seated 5th from left) with ladies at the event (Photo / Vijay Shah)Ambassador Jaiswal (seated 4th from left) with male guests at the event. (Photo : Vijay ShahAmbassador Jaiswal)
GLEN COVE, NY (TIP): The Indian Panorama, the leading English language Indian American newspaper, hosted a Holi /Hola celebration April 4 at the Metropolitan Banquet in Glen cove.
The celebrations were attended by 100 persons drawn from various walks of life, who came despite the COVID-19 threats. However, CDC and New York State guidelines were strictly followed, and guests wore masks, and maintained social distancing, as far as possible.
Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal was the chief guest. He was accompanied by his wife Dr. Abha Jaiswal, and their teenaged daughter.
Guests of honor included Attorney Ravi Batra, Chair, U.S. National Advisory Council of South Asian Affairs; Ranju Batra, Chair, Diwali Stamp Project; Harry Bolla, Chairman/ CEO of Bolla Group of Companies; Bobby Kalotee, Chairman, Human Rights Commission, Nassau County, and Tirlok Malik,Emmy Award nominee and Happy life Yoga Guru. A riot of colors,a thrilling display of the Sikh martial art -Gatka, dances and songs gave the guest the value of their time.
Guests were welcomed with a tika of colors by members of the organizing committee- Anu Jain, Indu Gajwani, Jaskiran Saluja, Jyoti Gupta and Pnky Jaggi.
Jaskiran Saluja extended a brief formal welcome which was followed by a tribute to those who lost their lives to COVID-19. Ambassador Jaiswal and Dr. Abha Jaiswal led guests in paying floral tribute to Dr. Ajay Lodha, a darling of the Indian American community who died of COVID-19 in 2020, after battling for life for close to 8 months.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Jaiswal praised the Indian American community for their love of their festivals and their spirit of brotherhood. He said he was happy to see Holi and Hola being celebrated together, with the presence of people from all faiths, particularly the Hindu and the Sikh. He praised Prof. Indrajit S Saluja who organized the event, and hoped The Indian Panorama will continue the tradition, having been the founder of the event in 2018.
Appreciating the great performances, Ambassador Jaiswal congratulated the gatka players for giving a thrilling performance. He said, he had earlier also watched gatka performances in India, and was deeply impressed with the performance he witnessed. He also praised the dance performances by the young artists from Muktambar Fine Arts,and singers – Vicky Kohli and. Prachi Makkar, and Surya Makkar who gave a thrilling performance on Dhol.
Mr. Ravi Batra spoke about his own encounter with COVID-19 and warned that the only protection against the disease is takingprecaution and following the CDC guidelines.
Mr. Harry Bolla was all praise for the festivities. The gatka performance, in particular, came in for his great praise. He announced a gift of $1100.00 to the Gatka party. He spoke briefly about the plight of farmers in India and appealed to the gathering to support the Indianfarmers’’movement for justice.
Mr. Bobby Kalotee,in his brief remarks, spoke about how important it was for him to try to help people during the pandemic.
Mr. Tirlok Malik, the well-known Indian American film maker who was nominated for Emmy Award, and who is a happy Life Yoga Guru spoke about the importance of keeping good health. He recommended a dose of laughter to keep the mind, body and soul in good shape.
In a draw of lots, Balasubramaniam Elango, Chief Executive of Bank of Baroda, New York was chosen “The
Mmahamoorkha” – an old age practice of having some fun on the occasion of Holi. He was crowned by the chief guest and the Mahamoorkha of 2019 Ravi Batra, with the host committee and guests of honor joining.
The Indian American electronic media in attendance included TV Asia (Zahid Ali), PTC TV (Gurinder Hothi), Global Punjab TV (Pardeep Gill),and Punjabi Hub TV (Balwant Hothi).
Friends and colleagues from print media- Sharanjit SinghThind, Publisher of The South Asian Insider and Punjabi Duniya, and Sonia Lalwani fromDesi Talkwere kind enough to grace the occasion with their presence. Prof. Indrajit S Saluja acknowledged their presence and thanked them, as also the guests, the organizing committee, the volunteers, family and friends, and all service providers.
Prof. Saluja had a special word of thanks for the performers. He said the performances were excellent as also the artists. He thanked Savitri Anand, Director of Muktambar Fine Arts for the Academy’s participation in the celebrations. The performances by the young students- Gayatri Balsara and Anjana Moolay- of Ms Anand’s academy were outstanding, he said. Also, the soulful singing of a Punjabi song by the talented Prachi Makkar, he said had added to the pleasure of the guests. Vicky Kohli (often confused with Vicky Kaushal) was superb. Prof. Saluja thanked the artists and wished them a great future, and hoped they would be ever obliging to him, whatever their preoccupations.
Rajeev Maini and Onkar Singh, owners of the Metropolitan Banquet were appreciatedfor the venue and wonderful catering. Parminder Singh was thanked for the sound system; Anmol Dhawan for providing lovely banners, and Gurinder Singh and Vijay Shah for photography. Special thanks were given to Gurinder Singh Hothi for videography and Balwant Hothi for live streaming the event.
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