Source

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, September 26, 2003: Thousands are expected to converge on Jersey City’s Little India neighborhood tonight and tomorrow night for the Navratri festival which organizers say will be celebrated in the streets for the first time in the United States. Traditionally a nine-day festival, Navratri is celebrated in honor of the Hindu Goddess Durga. The local Indian community usually holds the festival in a temple or hall, but this year organizers will be allowed to close off several streets for their event. That the festivities this year are spilling out into the street is a sign of the Asian Indian community’s growing economic and political importance in Hudson County, said Raju Patel, president of the Jersey City Asian Merchant Association. “Because of the growing Asian Indian population in Hudson County and Jersey City, we decided to do something in our own community,” said Patel, who is also president of the Govinda Sanskar Center. According to the 2000 Census, there are more than 20,000 Asian Indians in the county and nearly 13,000 in Jersey City. The Indian community’s economic weight is also reflected in census statistics. The median income for a three-person Indian family is $50,710 in Hudson county and $50,000 in Jersey City. Patel said the festival will give the community the chance to share some of its good fortune. Organizers plan to raffle three round-trip tickets to India, a TV, and jewelry. Some of the money raised by the raffle, Patel said, will be donated to Hudson County Community College Foundation.

Post Views: 619