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Published: 16 April 2009

The cultural inheritance of India has always intrigued and attracted the world.  The richness and the diversity of its cultural heritage and traditions have been popular in all ages across the world which  reflects through its people, fairs, festivals,  performing arts – especially music and dance in both classical and folklore forms,   fine arts and crafts, religion, literature, philosophy, and architecture.  This year’s Heritage India festival was held on April 4, 2009 at the Hindu Society Cultural Hall, Morrisville.  It reflected the traditions and vibrancy of Indian heritage and brought out cultural sentiments of the Indian Americans living in the Triangle Area to the fore.  The theme of this year’s festival was “Making Cultural Connections.”  This annual celebration offered a chance to event-goers to learn about the regional cultural peculiarities and similarities.  

The Program began at 5:00 p.m. with prayer recited by four young girls, followed by a brief introduction about the significance of the festival by Yash Garg, President of the organization.  Thereafter, beginning with a  classical dance “Pushpanjali”, and a patriotic song sung by students of Madhumita Saha,  the Festival kept the audience spell bound with its seamless, continuous programming – ranging from a mosaic of  classical dances presented by the students of  Jayanthi Balachandran, Sridevi Jagannath, Meena Rajagopal, Kavita Konda, and Padma Rao, artistic directors of the Triangle Area’s prominent Classical Dance Schools -- to the creative, colorful  folk dances presented by Payal Chakravarty, Payal Malkani, Anita Punj, Natya Academy, Triangle’s main folk dance choreographers.  HSNC Bhajan group led by Dr. Arvind Shah sang devotional songs and Dr. Dhruv Kumar, a physician from Wake Forest, performed the lamp lighting ceremony.

 While all the “Bharathnatyam” dances and Folk dances showcased the creative talents of the performers and choreographers and were cheered by the crowd,  “Bhangra”  a Panjabi folk dance, artistically choreographed and presented by Natya Academy and an “Odissi” classical dance creatively  presented by  Dhanya Sandeep and group, & a dance with 40 children in cast choreographed by Payal Malkani added a new dimension to the evening’s program  and won loud acclaims  from the audience. 

Free Eye Screening was performed at the “EYE Camp” by the Duke Eye Center’s physicians from 4-7 p.m. Many of the Festival-goers availed the opportunity.   Thanks to Dr. K.P. Sandeep for Photos and video of the Festival & Kubi and Satishji for creating nice videos.  Please click here to view the photos, videos and comments by ApnaTriangle user community.

 Mr. Mukesh Shah deserves special mention here.  He has been with us from the very first year to this day as AV Technical director for the entire show.  Whereas the program Emcees, Dr. Nandita Garg and Sudha Rathie added interest to the evening’s show with their lively and creative interpretations and introductions, Vidya Bhat and Nafisa Shaikh, youth artists,  presented Teen Fashion show – the Recognition Ceremony introduced the 2009 Community leaders in keeping with Indian traditions during the Program --  Dr. Harish Chander and Yash Garg gave  appropriate pithy introductions to our honorees; Vidya Arvapalli did the Tika on their foreheads;  Dr. Vandana Devalapalli decorated the honorees with scarves;  and Dr. Sudha Dhingra presented them plaques.  The recipients of 2009 Heritage awards are as follows:
                Jayanthi Balachandran – Distinguished Classical Dance Educator Award
                Dr. Vijaya Bapat,   Distinguished Marathi Author and Community Leader Award
                Dr. K. P. Sandeep,   Visual artist and community Services Award
                Prasad Vanguri,    2009 Community Ambassador Heritage Award

A variety of designs of Mehandi and children’s face- painting were artistically done by Ramesh Patel;   Rangoli, a colorful cultural art, was creatively demonstrated by Ms. Damodia;   and Kids’ Art Workshop was offered by a  group of UNC students led by Neil Patel.  A colorful Shamiana (a tent) for “Carrom Board Exhibit and Play” was set up in the Foyer by Billy Stevens and attracted many young people to play the Board game.  Other Exhibitors showcased their special merchandise – from fine arts paintings to crafts, from gold jewelry to Indian apparel & Panjabi embroidered shoes. Tupperware display by Andrea Lawson was a unique experience for those who were not familiar with the products.  For grand finale, comedian Seema Kukreja entertained the audience with her witty jokes, imitations & funny stories.      A sumptuous Indian dinner was catered by Royal India Restaurant.                                                           

Reviewed by Yash Garg, Chair, Heritage India Festival.
Photos taken by K.P. Sandeep, Cary Photo and Video

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