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10th Edition of Janmashtami In Houston Is A Hit

Arthur J Pais in Houston

After the Janmashtami prayers were over and Raas Garba began, Vijay Pallod and his friends began counting the shoes. They found 5,500 pairs.

"Isn't it an effective way of counting how many people were attending our event?" he says laughing. "We do not believe in offering figures which someone can challenge tomorrow."

"We have been celebrating Janmashtami here for 10 years but we have never had such a strong response as this year," says Pallod, who along with his wife has been one of the organizers of the event for nine years. He reckons at least a quarter of the participants were pre-teens, and there were many Americans who were drawn to the event having read about it in mainstream publications such as the Houston Chronicle.

"What is interesting about the young people is that they look forward to our events," he says about the celebrations held on September 11 and which went on from 6.30 pm to midnight at the George R Brown Convention Center.

"For we offer cultural activities, costume shows and competitions, all connected to Hinduism," he continues. "One of the most popular activities were the spiritual games devised by the Chinmaya Mission."

Houston was the first city in the United States to celebrate Janmashtami as a large-scale, community-wide festival.

"I am very happy to see the different generations come together and enjoy the celebrations," said Rinzing Wangdi, the consul-general of India in Houston.

Pallod said it was not just different generations that came together but also Hindus from many countries. "We have made a conscious effort here to invite Hindus from Guyana and Trinidad," says Pallod. "We make sure they become part of the celebrations."

The celebration began with a processional with priests reciting shlokas from the Bhagwad Gita, followed by youngsters dressed as Lord Krishna's playmates going past the various exhibits and booths.

Traditional prayers and worship followed at the Krishna temple on a beautifully decorated stage. Several groups sang devotional songs. There were performances by a Caribbean Hindu group, the Barsana Dham devotees, students from the Chinmaya Mission, the Arya Samaj, Indravedan Trivedi's dance school, Jhankar, and Rathna Kumar's Anjali School of Dance.

The representatives of Chaitanya Mission discussed the protest against Universal Studios over the Xena television episode that fictionalized Hindu deities. One feature of the program was the exhibit showing a picture and a set of verses from each of the 18 chapters of the Bhagwad Gita.

Fancy dress, art and essay contests were held to encourage youth participation. Winners of the essay contest were Avinash Ravishankar (first) and Bharat Pallod (second) from elementary school; Pooja Kumar (first) and Aditi Kamdar (second) from middle school; and Priya Kumar (first) and Rishi Aggarwal (second) from high school.

The winners of the fancy dress competition winners were Reshab Shah (first) and Radhika Naik (second) for the first division, Namita Pallod (first) and Shivam Khanna (second) in the second division, and Ami Patel (first) and Ruchita Naik (second) in the third division. The winners of the art contest were Bharat Pallod and Ambika Khanna from elementary school; Kavita Pallod and Sujata Amin from middle school; and Samhitha Murthy and Vasant Garg from high school.

One of the most popular parts of the celebration was the public participation Raas Garba folk dance. Vandan Nayak Group, a professional group, volunteered their services and provided the music. The event began with several youth groups who have recently participated in FOGANA and won awards for folk dancing.

Organizers of the event say that a key goal of the celebration is to encourage Hindu unity.

Stanley Berly, a volunteer in the local Indian community, said: "It is important to hold celebrations like this to reinforce a sense of community that is sometimes lost in our daily lives. And then to instill pride in the younger generations of their rich heritage which comes with understanding who they are as Hindus and the contributions that they can make."

Hari Kewalramani, general co-ordinator, believes similar events should be held to mark Diwali and Holi celebrations in the coming years.

Ramesh Bhutada, a local businessman and chief guest for the occasion, spoke the thoughts felt by many who participated when he said, "it is a matter of great pride for all of us Hindus of Greater Houston that this is the tenth year we are celebrating Janmashtami together. It represents the unity of all of us Hindus."

Beth Kulkarni contributed to this feature.

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