India Day Parade a Hit in First Year in New City

A little after 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Main Street in New City was full of flashing lights,  sirens and still, everyone was moving at a snail's pace at best.

Along with numerous police cars blocking off side streets and a good portion of Main Street and two fire trucks with very active horns, more than 150 members of the India Cultural Society of Rockland marched to the Rockland County Courthouse.

Every Aug. 15 is India's Independence Day, and Sunday the India Cultural Society of Rockland hosted its 12th annual India Parade and Festival. It started in the parking lot of the New City Library and concluded with a festival on the lawn at the courthouse. This was the first year it was held in New City after years in Nanuet.

"It's much bigger than it used to be," said Sankaran Krishnan, the president of the ICSR. "I'd say there are almost double the amount of people [at the festival] than past years."

At the festival, which used to take place in the parking lot of the Nanuet Mall, there were numerous tents spread out across the lawn, two bounce houses and an inflatable slide for children, a stage for performances and plenty of ways to take in Indian culture.

"It's a pretty good opportunity for different kinds of people to come and see Indian culture," said New City's Ramki Sankar, who has been a member of ICSR for two years.

The festival kicked off in front of the courthouse with a flag hoisting ceremony. During that, the Pledge of Allegiance and American national anthem were performed, then the Indian flag was raised on another flag pole and the Indian national anthem was performed while many in the crowd sang along.

"It's a matter of great pride to be able to look up and see the Indian flag flying next to the American flag," Krishnan said.

The flag raising was one of the new features to the parade for its New City debut. Another was the area for children, with the bounce houses and a slide, a cotton candy machine, ice cream maker and popcorn. There were also games, like the bean toss and horseshoe toss. All of that was free.

Throughout the festival, which started at around 1 p.m., was a cultural presentation on stage in front of a large sitting area underneath two tents. The stage was also covered by a tent, which was held up by eight skinny poles that were adorned with white flowers climbing up the four poles facing the audience. At the bottom of the tent were strings of red and yellow flowers connecting the top of the poles. Large Indian flags and American flags were position on opposite sides of the tent, as well.

On stage, there were readings, singing and numerous dances, both to traditional Indian music and more modern songs.

To the side of the stage was a large area where people could purchase a number of Indian items, such as jewelry, body art and vibrant-colored clothing with sparkly designs and collars. There were also tents to get Henna tattoos, purchase books about Indian culture in various languages and get information about businesses in Rockland, including Good Samaritan Hospital and an SAT tutoring service.

While all of the booths were full of items, Krishnan said they were all selling their goods quite quickly.

"The vendors were supposed to stay open until 4 p.m., but some of them might sell out of their stuff by 3 p.m.," he said. "Now we know for next year to bring more stuff."

Two of the more popular tents were the ones selling food, one tent with items from Bombay Grill in New City and the other from Nanuet's Karavalli. They were both selling plates of food, including lemon rice, curd rice, idli, sambar, paneer tikka masala, chicken tikka masala and kulfi.

But before anyone even went to the festival, there was the parade, which started at 11 a.m. Those participating in the parade began congregating in the library parking lot a bit before 11, and shortly after, they were off.

Led by a police car, the first people in the parade was a group carrying Indian and American flags. Behind them was a car with a large white balloon shaped like a blimp with red and orange fins. In the center of both sides of the balloon was an outline of India with "ICSR" written inside of it. A little farther back in the parade line was another car with a large balloon tied to the top, that one reading "India Cultural Society of Rockland."

Also in the parade were a group of children riding bicycles, people holding an ICSR sign, two fire trucks and a group from Jeevan Jyoti, Inc., an Indo-American support group for senior citizens. There were also a few cars driving in the parade waving Indian flags and playing Indian music, and two police officers mounted on horses. In total, there were easily more than 150 people marching in the parade, many wearing traditional Indian clothing and carrying mini Indian flags that they would hand out to people watching from the sidewalk.

To get to Main Streetl the parade started up Squadron B0ulevard. The first people to see the parade were Howard Keiser and his grandsons, Alec and Ryder Kudler. The three were positioned across Main Street right at the top of Squadron, waiting for the parade to start a little before 11.

"We're curious to see all the different costumes," Keiser, of New City, said.

He also noted he found out about the parade from the street signs letting the public know Main Street would be closed Sunday, and it was his first time attending the event. He decided to come because he thought it might be something interesting to do with his grandsons, who live in Tenafly, N.J., and were sleeping over.

"We thought it'd be something different to do on their daily excursion," he said.

Shortly after the parade started, all three were given tiny Indian flags. A little bit down Main St., right at the top of Concord Drive, Marie and Federico Larrinaga were also given mini Indian flags. For the New City couple, it was their first time at the parade as well.

"We came just to see a different culture in Clarkstown," Federico Larrinaga said.

They found out about the parade on a phone call from the Clarkstown police revese 911 system letting the public know Main Street would be closed for a portion of Sunday.

"It's always good to learn from each other," he said. "Our diversity makes us richer. That's what makes America so strong."

Early in the route, they weren't too many other people lined up to see the parade, but once it got closer to New Hempstead Road, more people were waiting, including 30 or so sitting on the stone ledge in front of Chase Bank. Countless others were on the grass on the courthouse lawn and across the street in front of the shopping center watching.

A little while into the parade, Madan Madi, of Queens, started playing his dhol, which is a double-sided barrel drum commonly found in India. Madi, who has participated in the parade a few other times, was wearing light turquoise and purple Indian clothing, and created a beat for many parade-goers to wave flags and dance to. Once the parade reached New Hempstead Road, a large circle of about 50 people broke out and danced around while Madi played his dhol in the center. A similar occurrence took place before the group marched up the steps leading to the courthouse.

Krishnan said he hopes to keep the parade in New City in the future, and would like to see about coming the other way down Main Street next year to have possibly an even longer parade. Still, if the parade had to have the same route next year, he wouldn't be too upset.

Main Street in New City from Congers Road at the county courthouse to Third Street is currently undergoing a renovation, with workers creating new sidewalks, street lighting, landscaping and parking areas. When the project is completed, members of the New City Chamber of Commerce hope to take advantage of the revamped Main Street for events such as street fairs.

"We're just thrilled," he said. "This has exceeded our expectations."

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