IACFNJ Navratri Garba 2014 at South Brunswick High School.

PRESS RELEASE:

October 5, 2014

Cultural diversity showcased at Navratri Garba celebration in South Brunswick by Indo-American Cultural Foundation of Central Jersey –IACFNJ. More than 6,000 attended during first four days Garba on September 26, 27, October 3, 4, 2014:

Indo-American Cultural Foundation of Central Jersey - IACFNJ held their first four days out of six days three weekends of Navratri Garba in New Jersey’s most culturally and ethnically diverse township of South Brunswick. This year’s Garba were held first time ever for six days of extravagance live music and raas, garba and sanedo which was enjoyed by participants of all the ages for more than six hours with colorful outfits, chaniya choli and kurta, pajamas. The first four days of Garba were held at South Brunswick High School and the last two days will be at Cross Roads South Middle School, 195 Major Road in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey on October 10, 11, 2014. The Navratri celebration marks the festival of nine nights during which Hindus worship Goddess of Shakti Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Hindus believe Goddess Durga destroys all the evil propensities lurking the minds of her devotees, Goddess Lakshmi implants divine qualities in the devotee’s minds and Goddess Saraswati bestows true knowledge to her devotees. The tenth day also known as Vijay Dashami, commemorates the victory of good over evil.

IACFNJ held this year’s Garba in a state of the art gymnasium at South Brunswick High School in a highly secured environment and culturally diverse neighborhood where South Asians are highly populated in surrounding towns of North Brunswick, Franklin Park, Princeton, Princeton Junction, Monroe, East Brunswick, Robbinsville and East and West Windsor. More than 6,000 people witnessed the celebration of Hindu’s religious and cultural festival. For last four years, IACFNJ Garba has been the biggest, well organized and the most popular indoor Navratri Garba in New Jersey. Once again, famous group of Mahesh Mehta and his talented singers from Bollywood and local singers and artists of Entertainment Unlimited rocked the stage with famous old and new live singing of garbas, dandiya tunes, famous sanedo and bhangaras for non-stop live entertainment for more than six hours on all four days. The live music on a beautifully decorated stage and talented musicians with their bits of drum, key board, guitar and live singing and high energy on dance floor were the highlights of the event. The participants of all ages and various culturally diverse residents from all over Central Jersey were seen on the dance floor to celebrate the richest cultural diversity in the State. The South Brunswick’s cultural diversity was once again witnessed on the dance floor where the attendees were from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds and not only Gujaratis but from all over India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Shri Lanka and other neighboring countries and in some cases Chinese, Korean and Americans. The Goddess Amba Maa’s divine statue was placed in a beautifully decorated temple and traditional Aarti was performed on all four days followed by distribution of Prasad to all attendees. The cafeteria had food stalls of various mouth-watering and traditional Indian delicacies and desserts at reasonable prices which was additional convenience to the attendees. Local small businesses set up booths to display and sell clothes and jewelry.

The local business entrepreneurs, community leaders, local public officials and large number of Asian Indians attended the event to support IACFNJ community efforts to keep Indian culture and heritage alive in this country. South Brunswick Board of Education Members Patrick Del Piano and Azra Baig were among the guests who attended the event. The Grand Sponsors of this year’s event were Pinakin Pathak of OHM International in Monroe, Sunil and Vandana Nayak of InnZen Hospitality, Hitesh and Trusha Patel of Finnegan Plaza of North Brunswick, Patel Cash and Carry of North Brunswick and Indus American Bank in Plainsboro, New Jersey. On October 4, 2014, IACFNJ recognized a local Gujarati girl Ms. Divya Trivedi who won the title of Miss India East Coast 2014 which was held at a beauty pageant on August 23, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. IACFNJ Vice-President Hitesh Patel and Secretary and South Brunswick School Board Member Deven Patel presented flowers and card as a token of appreciation and congratulations to Ms. Trivedi. Divya is currently pursuing her undergraduate at NJIT and has interest in modeling and acting. The generous media sponsors for the event were TV Asia Akilanews.com, Radio Dil, masalajunction.com, NRI Tribune, EBC Radio, Gujarat Darpan, Tiranga, India West, Asian Media USA, Gujarat Samachar, Radio Dil, Divya Bhaskar, Parikh Media Worldwide, Radio Zindagi, Hi India, Sentinel, South Brunswick Patch and South Brunswick Post.

The IACFNJ dedicated and enthusiastic Executive committee, Trustees and other committee members and volunteers under the leadership of President Dr. Tushar Patel, Chairman Mahesh Patel, Vice-President Hitesh Patel, Secretary Deven Patel and Treasurer Mac Shah worked very hard to organize this event for record breaking attendance during the first four days. IACFNJ has been a pioneer in organizing cultural events throughout the year for the past more than 10 years which includes Spring Color Festival, India Independence Day, Summer Picnic and Diwali dinner.

The last two days of Garba will be held at Cross Roads South Middle School in Monmouth Junction on October 10 and 11, 2014. The renowned music Director Brij Joshi from India will perform live on both days. Mr. Joshi has scored music for more than 400 albums and 15 movies. The last two days of Garba will be a once in a life-time event and are expected to have full-house, so people are urged to come on time to avoid disappointment. For further information about the event or advertisement and sponsorship or booth booking, please contact Dr. Tushar Patel at 848-391-0499, Mac Shah at 848-667-0745 or Hitesh Patel at 732-718-5238 or visit organization website at www.IACFNJ.org or e-mail at iacfnj@yahoo.com.

Dr. Tushar Patel

President - IACFNJ