Houston Hindu Community Holds 16th Annual Community Janmashtami Celebration

August 29, 2005, Houston – 5000 Hindus, plus several hundred of their non-Hindu friends and neighbors, attended the 16th Annual Community-Wide Janmashtami Celebration at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on Saturday, August 27, 2005. Attendees, celebrating the birthday of Lord Krishna, enjoyed the colorful booths, watched a well-organized cultural program with music and dance, participated in the Raas Garba dance wishing it would not end, honored Akhil Chopra, and, in general, had a great time. Jay Aiyer perhaps echoed the sentiments of many attendees, saying “The celebration was wonderful and it is proof that our cultural and religious traditions are thriving in Houston.” Highly decorated police officer Muzaffar H Siddiqi, attending the festival for the first time, commented on the atmosphere “charged with love, excitement, happiness and people dancing and celebrating in the most vibrant and colorful traditional attire.” He also mentioned that he enjoyed “an evening full of excitement.”

One of the aims of the Hindus of Greater Houston has been to have greater involvement of the young people. This year Hindu Student Council members pitched in and helped. They handled the shoe booth and the reception area and assisted in various ways throughout the evening.

Many of those attending stated that the cultural program was the best in many years. Notable was that the cultural program ended on time and with a spectacular finale by Sreepadam School of Arts, a RadhaKrishna dance item by 13- to 21-year-old girls depicting prem/bhakthi (love and devotion) and seva (service) of Radha and the gopikas for Krishna. “All the performances made me think of professional dancers” was the comment of Evelyn Turner. Another first-time attendee, Dale Andrews, said, “The cultural dances were magnificent.” Anu Upda thanked "all the participants in the cultural program along with their teachers for adhering to the theme of Seva and portraying it in the dances seen in this year's program. It was a wonderful experience to see people, young and old coming together to celebrate Janmashtami which was enjoyed by everyone, she continued”.

Stage decorations were elegant in white and gold and stacked pots placed on either side of the stage gave it a traditional look. The entrance was grand with golden colored curtains and with volunteers welcoming the attendees with the traditional kumkum/tilak. The procession of priests followed by children in traditional dress was very colorful. Sunita Zamwar stated “This year we had a record participation of 62 contestants in the contest. Moreover we also had record participation from non-Indian-Americans.” (See separate listing of winners sent separately.)

A number temples and organizations took part and had booths and temples decorated for Janmashtami celebrations. Kerala Hindu Temple Society had an elaborate temple complete with fresh banana leaves. Also among the booths were those by one of the oldest temple in the area Sri Meenakshi Temple, while one was from the newest area temple, Hindu Temple of The Woodlands, which is planning to establish a temple and community center serving Hindus of North and Northwest Harris County, Montgomery County and surrounding areas.

According to prominent cardiologist Dr. Virendra Mathur, "For the first time in the history of this Festival, the Indian Doctor's Association, under the leadership of President, Dr. Rakesh Mangal, had a booth to provide helpful hints and educational material to the community for preservation of good health, in keeping with the theme of "SEWA" or 'service'.” The Indian Doctors’ Club provided 29 doctors and other volunteers, many of them staying for more than five hours, making their booth the "busiest booth". In line with the theme of service, the doctors conducted a survey (CHAI) of the Indian community’s heath issues, especially heart health. They also provided information on a healthy lifestyle and samples of tasty non-fat and low-fat ice cream from Natura of Spring, Texas.

“A Glimpse of a Tragedy Without an End”, a photographic exhibition on Kashmir and the plight of Kashmiri Hindus, designed by award -winning journalist and author Francois Gautier was on display. This was one of the highlights and was visited by large number of people.

As this was the actual Janmashtami day, the fresh fruits available for people who were fasting were especially appreciated. There was also a variety of tasty vegetarian food, which unfortunately, due to the large crowd sold out early.

Raas Garba, the delightful dance that brings together young and old, was a huge success, with many pleading not to stop the music at the end to let the dances continue. Vandan Nayak and his group as usual played very good music for the Raas Garba.

The chief guest, Acharya Sonerao-ji from Arya Samaj, gave a very powerful speech. In accordance with the festival’s theme, he spoke on Lord Krishna and his example of service in serving Arjun and even to the extent of washing feet. The acting Consul General, Mr. Pillai, was introduced on stage also.

Among the joyous times throughout the evening, there was a very somber moment. A minute of silence was observed in memory of Akhil Chopra. Akhil, who was an active member of the Janmashtami committee and helped a number of local groups, was murdered earlier this month in a local park while meditating during his lunch hour. Many people also visited the booth paying tribute to Akhil. Kirthi Jain stated “It helped many people to know more about Akhil. We are grateful to Sewa International for dedicating this booth for Akhil.”

The midnight aarthi concluded the event. As people left the hall they could see rain on the streets, reminding them of the rain that occurred at the time of Lord Krishna’s birth.

The Janmastami program is expected be telecast on TVAsia and Aasta. Houston Chronicle covered the event in its Saturday edition, resulting in a larger than usual number of non-Hindus attending. Other media also covered the event.

Girish Naik who has been active in many community organizations and Anu Udpa who is very involved with various cultural events in Houston were the co-coordinators of the event and worked together with many community members and organizations to make the Annual Community-Wide Janmashtami Celebration a success, one that involves all segments of the local Hindu community.