PHOTO: Ketki Tipnis, Sumana Hatwar and Heena Bhatt perform Laavni, Maharashtrian Folk Dance, at the Hyde Community Center for India Day. Photo by Christian Maitre
Newton’s 4th annual India Day at the Hyde Center Saturday evening was a rich, vibrant display of Indian food, dance and music and the result of a yearslong effort by the local non-profit Indian American Community of Newton.
The celebration is part of Indian American Community of Newton’s effort to share India’s rich and diverse culture as the country marks 77 years of independence this month.
“So every year we have captured different elements,” Sumana Hatwar, co-founder of IAC Newton, said. “One year we had Bharatnatyam, which is a classical dance. Last year we had a Kata that’s also one of the classical dances. And this year we are Laavni, which is from the western part of India.”
Hatwar said a large motivation behind organizing IAC’s India day was to help all age groups with their Indian heritage and culture. Musical and dance performers ranged from as young as four years old all the way to adulthood.
“So it’s also like teaching them that you need to give back to the community,” said Hatwar.
One performance included a dance inspired by the poem “Pujarini” originally written by Rabindranath Tagore. Samadrita Bhattacharyaa, a senior scientist at Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge, created a modern choreography of the poem.
A wide range of local nonprofits tabled at the event including greater Boston-based Sunrise Adult Foster Care which provides in-home medical and caregiving assistance to individuals with disabilities, and Newton Neighbors, a mutual aid resource group providing food pantry programs and donations of school supplies.
Local businesses were also in attendance including Newton restaurant Shiva’s Kitchen that served up savory dosas, a crepe with vegetarian fillings, and refreshing drinks.
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller made a public appearance at the event, thanking the members IAC for their hard work, as well as Jonathan Rice, the Executive Director of the Hyde Community Center.
“Newton is an amazing tapestry of people, different cultures, different languages, different ethnicities, different religions, and this tapestry of weaving all of us together is something we do in the United States and that is done in India,” Fuller said. “It just kind of lights me up.”
Whether it was for the food, music or dancing, attendees came to celebrate together.
“We always center around bringing the community together,” IAC Co-Founder Heena Bhatt said. “That’s our big mission and vision. Every event is centered around that, to bring people together.”
India Day