New York: The Connecticut Chapter of the Global Organization (GOPIO-CT) had a highly successful celebration of India’s 78th Independence Day on August 11th with flag hoisting at the Stamford Government Center, a ceremony with elected Connecticut officials and dignitaries. The celebrations, with a colorful festival, then continued at the Mill River Park in Stamford.
A floating crowd of over 2,000 people attended flag hoisting at 11.30 am followed by the India Festival and Kite flying at the Mill River Park from 12 Noon to 4.00 pm. Dressed in colorful traditional Indian attire, with melodious music from the popular Bollywood world, dances depicting the wide variety of Indian culture, kite flying, spicy Indian cuisine, and booths decorated with Indian symbols and face art, the festivities were a treat to the fast-growing Indian American community in the state of Connecticut and New York’s Westchester County.
The day-long celebrations began with the hoisting of the American and Indian flags at the Stamford Government Center by Darien First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky, Rep. Matt Blumenthal (Stamford/Darien) and Rachel Khanna (Greenwich/Stamford) and Indian Consul Pragya Singh. American and Indian national anthems were sung by students of Stamford’s Hindi School.
The program then continued to the adjacent Mill River Park with an Independence Day Ceremony which was addressed by Indian Consul Pragya Singh and several CT state officials.
In her presidential address, Dr. Jaya Daptardar described the mission and vision of GOPIO-CT under her leadership.
Indian Consul Pragya Singh highlighted the accomplishments and contributions of the Diaspora.
Half a dozen elected officials from Connecticut spoke and lauded the contributions of the Indian Diaspora locally and nationally, and praised the strong values that govern the strategic relationship between India and the US.
Connecticut General Assembly issued a citation honoring the India Day Celebration and presented it to GOPIO-CT. The citation introduced by Rep. Blumenthal (147th Dist. Stamford/Darien) and supported by 14 other CT Representatives and Senators congratulated GOPIO-CT for celebrating India’s 77th Anniversary.
