Township Adds Spice of India to Municipal Building

Township residents gathered Tuesday evening at the municipal building for a new, monthly cross-cultural ritual: flag raising.

Sal Anderton, West Orange council president, and Saumya Bhatnagar, a West Orange resident of Indian descent, raised the republic's flag as a sign of cultural acceptance.

"This is the first of many ceremonies recognizing different ethnic origins of West Orange residents," said Anderton.

He said he was approached by the Indian community as a start for August since the country is celebrating its independence.

"Going forward, we're hoping to do this with other groups where there's an interest," said Anderton.

Chandra Chetwani, of Maharashtra state in the southwest part India, and is visiting family in West Orange, said the ceremony is a good way to recognize different cultures in the township.

"It's nice to see this hosting here because so many Indians are living here and it's nice to see our own (flag)," she said.

The flag originally was set to be raised outside of the municipal building, but was changed inside after it was found inappropriate to raise another country's flag, subordinate to the American flag, on the same pole.

Anderton said the Italian flag will be raised next in October around Columbus Day.