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LONDON, ENGLAND, November 8, 2004: Back home, the festival may still be a few days away but thousands of Indians living in Britain poured into Trafalgar Square here on Sunday evening to celebrate Deepavali with fun, fireworks and food. As the actual festival day falls on a weekday, Indians living here celebrated the occasion Sunday at an open air function that was wished well by London mayor Ken Livingstone. About 5,000 Indians and South Asians gathered at the sprawling Trafalgar Square to watch a display of fireworks and a scintillating cultural program that featured traditional Indian dances like the garba performed by youngsters. Young Indian performers, speaking in accented Hindi, greeted the people and dished out songs. People danced to the music, undeterred by a light drizzle. “This celebration at Trafalgar Square has been on for the past six years. Before that it used to be held in a much smaller manner elsewhere,” said Jagdish Patel, a 56-year-old businessman who moved to Britain from Gujarat 26 years ago. A huge stage was put up for the cultural troupes to perform on. In front of it, hundreds of people gathered to cheer the performers and participate in the dancing. “We are enjoying this very much. Such festivities are our connection with India,” said Sam Malhotra, a college student.



The programs began around 4 p.m. and continued till about 8 p.m. Curious tourists and passers-by stopped to watch the colorful spectacle. “Indians are always colorful. So are their festivals,” said Chris Palos, a Briton who stayed there for a while to watch the dancing on the stage. “The British are very encouraging when it comes to other cultures. They know how to assimilate other cultures,” said Pushpa Patel, who has been living in London for 33 years. After the fireworks and the fun, people queued in front of food stalls that gave away free Indian vegetarian meals of puris, rice and curries.

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