NEW YORK, U.S.A., October 14, 2004: Twenty years ago, 74th street in Jackson Heights featured only a few Indian-owned shops. Today this same street has over 200 businesses that are Indian. For the sixth year in a row, the Hindu community has decorated the street with full fanfare to celebrate the Hindu festival of Deepavali. The merchants plan on leaving the lights up on every arbor even after Deepavali ends on November 17. Shiv Das, president of the Jackson Heights Merchants’ Association, says, “This is a way of saying thank you. You have Jewish customers, Muslim customers, Christian customers, we want to keep everybody happy, and the street looks good.” Attendance in Little India exceeded expectations as over 20,000 people attended the street celebration this year. R. Radhakrishan, president of the Federation of Indian Associations, comments, “It is very large compared to what it was 20 years ago. They appreciate our culture.” The article explains, “Over the past two decades, the borough’s Indian community has achieved increasing notoriety, and their success has transformed 74th Street. In July, the street was renamed Kalpana Chawla Way to honor Chawla, one of seven astronauts to die in the ill-fated Columbia shuttle mission and the first Indian American in space. And the street recently has become the focus of a Pratt University study aimed at weaving the area more firmly into Queens’ tourist and cultural offerings.” Police officer Ravi Malhotra, the son of Indian immigrants from Delhi, says, “It’s absolutely amazing. This is the sixth year they’ve done this.” U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens), one of Queen’s politicians, says, “Even Jewish kids from Brooklyn are Hindus today.” Congressman Joseph Crowley adds, “I promise before my time is done in Washington, we will have a stamp honoring Deepavali in the United States.”

HONOLULU, HAWAII, October 11, 2004: An exhibit of stone, marble, bronze, wood, clay and painted images from across India that depict the Goddess Durga will be on display at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. “Durga: The Great Goddess Revealed,” an exhibit of Durga images runs through December 5. The academy is also holding various music, film, lecture and festival events that run in conjunction with the exhibit, and will display a sculpture of Durga built on-site using traditional techniques. Master craftsmen from West Bengal are constructing a pandal (temporary temple) on the academy grounds, along with a beautiful sculpture of eight-armed Durga. Academy visitors are welcome to watch the construction, which is scheduled to be complete by October 17.



Manu Chkravartty, a docent (guide) at the academy, says that it’s important to use only natural products to construct the image, because in India after the festival concludes, the image is immersed in a nearby river or ocean. And while the image here won’t be immersed at the end of the academy’s Durga run (it will instead be added to the academy’s Indian collection), it is being made by master sculptors with all natural materials. The base of the sculpture is constructed by shaping rice straw-bound with jute string and covered with a red California clay mix. The piece is then left to dry in the open air. No kiln is used for this type of sculpture. As the clay dries, it develops cracks. Clay from the Ganges river, which is extremely fine, is then used to fill in the cracks and smooth over the piece. With the sculpting perfected and the image dried, Durga will be painted. The last step is painting her eyes. Called “The Opening of the Eyes,” it begins the process of bringing spirit to the image. By Wednesday, Durga will be fully dressed and bejeweled. On Thursday, the first day of the 10-day festival, comes the invocation, complete with drummers, dancers and chanters who will invoke the spirit of the Goddess.

KANPUR, INDIA, October 14, 2004: Jagat Guru Shankarachrya of Puri Math, Swami Nishchalanand, has alleged that various political parties were misusing the name of Shakaracharya by appointing people of their interest. Talking to reporters here Shakaracharya said that there were three recognized Shankaracharyas working in four peeths in the country —Gobardhan Peeth, Puri Peeth’s Nischalanand; in Karnataka south, Sringeri Math Swamy Bhartiya ji Teertha; in north Uttranchal Jyotirmath’s Swamy Swarupanand; and besides them Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi in south and Swamy Chinmayanand in east were also recognized as Shankaracharyas. He alleged that there were about 150 bogus Shankaracharyas including 100 in south and the rest in the north who were moving as shankaracharyas. Shankaracharya Nishchalanand said political parties should work for strengthening the nation and not for weakening the country. Shankaracharya was accorded a warm reception at railway station on his arrival and he later addressed three programs organised in the city.

NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 4, 2004: When 53-year-old Kuchipudi maestro Jayarama Rao and his wife Vanashree traveled to China, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia to perform, they were amazed at the appreciation shown towards them for their art form in these countries. Rao says, “What beautiful expressions, what costumes, and what rhythm, they said at all the places we performed. All these countries in eastern Asia have very strong cultures, and are traditionally rich. They enjoy our dance, because they understand our practices and our discipline. In fact our dances and those of Thailand have a lot of similarities, but our music and way of performing is different. In Japan, people told me I look like a god! India should send more and more dancers abroad because foreigners are crazy about Indian dance. That is how they perceive our culture.” The article explains, “In June, 2004, Rao was bestowed the Padma Sri Award, India’s fourth highest civilian award given for outstanding contribution to the country. Today, the centuries-old Kuchipudi dance, which originated as a temple dance from a village of the same name in Andhra Pradesh, is reckoned as one of the most popular Indian classical dances abroad.” Vanadhree Rao says, “People are especially amazed as to how we manage to dance on a brass plate, and the way our rhythm keeps changing throughout the dance. At first I was worried. The Chinese especially are so adept at gymnastics and other art forms, I feared they would take our dances lightly. Sometimes, it is sad, but we feel more appreciated abroad than in India,”