By SATimes Team
Garden City, NY: The 10th India Day Parade of Long Island to be held in Hicksville, NY on Sunday, August 8, 2021 to celebrate India’s 75th Independence Day has generated great enthusiasm among the Indian community, as it is the only parade this time in the entire New York State. This was revealed by officials of IDP USA, organizer of the parade, at a press conference on July 28 at Mint Restaurant in Garden City, NY.
Tens of thousands are expected to march in the parade and cheer it from the sidewalks as it starts at 1 PM from Patel Brothers and walk down the Little India part of Hicksville to culminate near Asa Mai Hindu temple on East Barclay Street where the entertainment stage will be set up with a live DJ as well as stalls selling ethnic goodies and food. Admission is free.
Consul General Randhir Jaiswal, who had graced the parade curtain raiser at the Indian Consulate on June 24, is Grand Marshall. Renowned film star Kajal Aggarwal and Philanthropist, Entrepreneur and Life Consultant Dr Jay Sarkar will lead the parade as Grand Marshalls, informed Deepak Bansal, President of IDP USA, who thanked the IDP USA office bearers and committee chairs for working day in and day out to prepare for the massive parade.
The parade’s four Guests of Honor are: internationally renowned oncologist and Padma Shri Dr Dattatreyudu Nori, Diwali Foundation USA Chair Ranju Batra, Navika Group CEO and President Naveen Shah and young guru and motivational speaker Ishan Shivanand.
A highlight of the parade will be a raffle, where the top prize is a car sponsored by DP Singh of Meetu Magic. Other exciting prizes include jewelry, smartphone and cash.
Addressing the press conference attended by representatives of leading newspapers and electronic media, IDP USA Founders Bobby K. Kalotee and Kamlesh C. Mehta said that this parade is special as it is celebrating India’s landmark 75th Independence Day and that it is timed well as pandemic restrictions have been lifted. On their imploring those in attendance for financial support, many wrote checks on the spot.
Jasbir Jay Singh, who emceed the evening and under whose presidency the IDP parade in 2019 was a roaring success, exhorted the community and community organizations to make the parade a success. 30 booths and 9 floats have already been booked, but more slots are open including for ads in the souvenir which will be released at the gala celebrating the success of the parade at Antun’s by Minar on Thursday, August 19, 2021.
Dr Jay Sarkar said he is honored to represent India and the community as Grand Marshall. Dr Nori also spoke as did past IDP presidents, Mukesh Modi, Beena Kothari and Indu Jaiswal.
Sponsors of the parade included Phalguni Chintu Patel, Shiv Yog, Navika Group, Bolla Market, CheapOair, Patel Brothers, Vass Pipe, The Portables Choice Corp, PICC, Flushing Bank, Maharaja, Badshah, Commercial Capital Funding Group, Elevator the movie, Indian Visa Center, Omni Mortgage, HAB Bank, and The South Asian Times. Several media organizations are promoting the parade as a service. .
IDP USA was established in 2012 to create awareness of Indian contributions to the local community by celebrating India’s Independence Day every year. The non-partisan and secular IDP USA brings together over 100 religious, cultural, regional, and charity organizations serving the community.
