Rain Date: Sunday, October 20
2:00 PM
Charu Suri Raga Jazz
Interactive Crafts (Leir Hall until 5pm)
Sari Exhibition (Leir Hall until 6pm)
2:20 PM
Montclair Dharma Band
2:50 PM
Sudip Mukherjee
3:00 PM
Lighting the Diwali Lamp
3:20 PM
Community Dances
Kulture Kool Dances
3:45 PM
Gita Varadarajan Book Reading (Leir Hall)
3:50 PM
Ashwin Kumar Kuchipudi Performance
4:00 PM
Community Dances
Kulture Kool Dances
4:45 PM
RU Bhangra with Anand Sookbir
Shruti Mutalik is a singer-songwriter who sings in several different languages and genres. She performs regularly with her band Sonic Animals. She is a transplant psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical School in New York City, as passionate about education as she is about music.
Shruti Mutalik will sing a short invocation including a Ganesh Mantra, as the afternoon’s festivities are inaugurated with a ceremonial lighting of the Diwali lamp.
Gita Varadarajan is an acclaimed author of multiple books including Save Me a Seat, My Bindi and its companion, My Saree. Gita was born in Kerala, India, and moved to the US in 2010 with her husband Arun and their two sons Vaishnav and Vedav. Gita was not an avid reader in school, but when her great penmanship resulted in her winning a handwriting contest in 5th Grade, it launched a seed that led to her next journey as a writer. Gita is now a sought-after speaker at schools across the country, where she inspires children to create their own stories. She has a Masters in Literacy Instruction, from Teachers College, Columbia University and teaches fourth graders in Princeton Public Schools.
Gita joins us to read her recently published book, My Saree, which will be available for purchase, courtesy of our sponsors Watchung Booksellers.
Charu Suri, born in South India, is a multi-award winning pianist and composer who treads fearlessly between genres, blending several styles and fusing Indian ragas with more traditional jazz. Her previous albums charted #1 in India in both the jazz and overall albums. Charu Suri is accompanied by Steve Gadd on the drums and John Patitucci on the double bass.
Sudip lives in Ramsey, NJ and works in financial services. He has been a keen music enthusiast since childhood. His love for music spans several genres from Bollywood songs to ghazals to classic rock. Sudip Mukherjee will charm us with his renditions of evergreen Bollywood hits!
Ashwin is a professional Indian classical (Bharatnatyam & Kuchipudi) and folk dancer and teacher, who also specializes in fitness and yoga practices. Ashwin has over 20 years of experience in dance. He has given over 500 performances throughout India and the United States and performed on several prestigious stages including the New York Public Theater, Delicate Theater, Lincoln Center, the Indian consulate, and the United Nations. Ashwin Kumar will perform a rare rendition of the traditional Kuchipudi dance style.
Performing an energetic and interactive Bhangra dance, RU Bhangra is the first original collegiate bhangra team in the nation. The team hails from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. Throughout their 25+ years of competing, RU Bhangra has maintained an identity as a traditional team combining folk flavor with a modern twist. RU Bhangra takes pride in its rich history, hard work, and strives to push the limits of Bhangra.
RU Bhangra is accompanied by Anand Sookbir on the Dhol. Anand specializes in various musical instruments including, Dholak, Naal, Tappu, Tassa, Dhol, Tabla and performs at many baraats, weddings, parties, and special occasions.
The Montclair Dharma Band is a collaboration by local community artists! Enjoy the sounds of Aalok Mehta on electric sitar, vocals and keyboards, Joshua Bertelli on guitar, and School of Rock Montclair’s Stu Damm, on drums and percussion!
NAMI NJ SAMHAJ
Shiv’s Third Eye
Desi Rainbow
Senator Helmy’s Constituent Services Team
Adhikaar
Get Out the Vote (GOTV)
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
New Jersey Division on Civil Rights
Upstander Training
Hand in Hand
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC)
Food & Beverage
Brick Lane Curry
Mumbai Maska
Fomo Momo
Inditacos
Dhamaal
Montclair Brewery
Rajni
Chasni Chai
Alconotmixology
NutEnough
Yummylicious Fudge.com
Sweet Leela Confections
Knead Some Love
Specialty Merchandise
Chinar Creations
Ayur Light Candles
Malasb
Mona Ahluwalia
Konnect Global
Nagababa
Sitara Fashion
Tinted Heritage
Alora Usa
Hye Jane Jewelry
Dolavira Art
Bollywood Funk
Autumn and August
Bibi Collective
Far Brook School
Santok Yoga
Mathnasium
Watchung Booksellers
Dancers: Punita Gupta, Shweta Gupta, Mona Jha, Puneeta Kalra, Deepika Misra, Madhuri Mukherjee, Rashmi Saraogi, Mona Shah, Neha Shah, Shuba Vasan.
Choreography: Ashwin Kumar & Puneeta Kalra
Dancer: Sanjuktha Srinivasan
Dancers: Leena Jani, Riya Jani, Radhika Pierson, Satya Pierson, Anaaya Shah, Ayan Shah, Myra Shah, Serena Shah, Zahira Shah, Zara Shah, Zuri Shah
Choreography: Roshi George
Dancers: Annu Anna Alex, Ruchi Misra, Chathu Ranwalage, Anu Sahi-Shah, Tripti Singh, Amanda Spagnoletti, Winnie Wu
Choreography: Roshi George
Dancers: Rishi Bakaya, Tej Bakaya, Anay Desai, Avnish Naidu, Aarthik Ram, Aarav Pierson, Dev Sutha, Vir Sutha
Choreography: Ashwin Kumar & Usha Naidu
Dancers: Khyati Mehta, Deepika Misra, Ruchika Misra, Aditi Piplani, Dipsha Shah, Oksana Shevchuk-Shah, Saher Siddiqui, Namrata Suri, Arpita Suri
Choreography: Roshi George
Dancers: Madeline Frech, Dipanshi Ganguly-Chmiel, Kaia Litton, Anaaya Madhok, Aaliya Mehta, Annika Naidu, Aarya Ram, Amara Sethi, Siana Sethi, Arya Shah
Choreography: Shreya Navile
Dancers: Amara Arora, Sasha Bandara, Arika Jain, Aaliyah James, Asha Kansagra, Soumya Kapoor, Maya Mehndiratta, Sky Punia
Choreography: Kaira Krishna
Dancers: Aydah Albaba-Rao, Priya Dwivedi, Puneeta Kalra, Sumeet Kapoor, Usha Naidu, Rajani Phanindra,Shobha Swaminathan, Harpreet Twigg, Shuba Vasan
Choreography: Puneeta Kalra
Bihu celebrates a good harvest and the arrival of spring in the state of Assam.
Dancers: Saisha Arora, Alaia Chevallier, Veera Desai Mehta, Soumya Kapoor, Jiya Kekre, Uma Kukreti, Maya Mehndiratta
The kite dance is a nod to uttarayan – the first festival of the calendar year in India marking the northward journey of the sun thus welcoming longer days and an end to the biting northern India winters.
Dancers: Alaia Chevallier, Neev Desai Mehta, Nikita Gupta, Soumya Kapoor, Maya Mehndiratta, Syna Mehta, Rahm Patel, Sarit Patel, Vikram Sood
The wedding dance celebrates the biggest social event of India- the grand Indian wedding From boy meets girls to the actual ceremony and the after party- it’s a party that no one forgets
Dancers: Avery Donahue, Nikita Gupta, Inika Hathiramani, Keya Hathiramani, Ananya Karra, Jiya Kekre, Reyva Kekre, Laila Khan, Uma Kukreti, Kala Kukreti, Myra Lalit, Syna Mehta, Rashmika Narain, Serena Nyugen, Myra Shah, Riya Shah, Vidhi Shah, Zora Sidhu, Mackenzie Strong, Varsha Vishwanathan, Kian Walther-Puri
A collaboration between Kulture Kool and CMG Studios. The kathak flamenco piece is a unique collaboration that doffs its hat to the Indian spirit of diversity, echoing the spirit of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam, a Sanskrit phrase that means ‘the world is one family’.’ Blending Flamenco with Kathak, Celebrations are for Sharing’ is a testament to the universal language of dance, that transcends cultural and geographical barriers. It’s interesting to note that flamenco dance has its roots in India. The banjaras who migrated from Rajasthan to the central plains in Asian and there on to Europe took their traditional dance forms and mixed it with the local rhythms of their new homes.
Dancers: Amelie Alvarez, Simran Bassi, Aryanna DeStefano, Antonina Garcia, Robyn Johnson, Sankirtha Kapoor, Layla Laguna, Pia Padovano, Aarushi Patel, Grace Quinones, Riya Shah, Anushka Singh
A corporate lawyer, an operations specialist, and a university professor of French language and literature, Usha, Shweta, and Madhuri are the three Co-Chairs of Light Up Diwali 2024. They have been hard at work for several months to bring today’s festivities to you; however, they acknowledge that none of this would have been possible without dozens of dedicated volunteers, performers, and the staff of AAPI New Jersey (you all know who you are!) to whom they extend their deepest appreciation and thanks. Happy Diwali!
A trailblazing journalist for NBC, CBS, ABC, Connie Chung shattered glass ceilings, paving the way for many women and Asians alike. In 1969, at the age of 23, the once-shy daughter of Chinese parents took her first job at a local TV station in her hometown of DC and soon thereafter began working at CBS News as a correspondent.
Chung was tenacious in her pursuit of stories – battling rival reporters to get scoops that ranged from interviewing Magic Johnson to covering the Watergate scandal – and quickly became a household name. She made history when she became the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian to anchor any news program in the country. An entire generation of Asian women were named after her.
In Connie: A Memoir, Chung pulls no punches as she shares a behind-the-scenes tour of her life and career, from showdowns with powerful men in and out of the newsroom where overt sexism was a way of life to the stories behind some of her career-defining reporting.
Archana Athalye is the Founder & Director of Kulture Kool South Asian Cultural Center in New Jersey founded in 2009. With a Masters in Communication and extensive experience in the music and film industries in India, she has made significant contributions to cultural education in the communities of New Jersey.
In 2023, she founded The Diversity Center to unite diverse communities and promote inclusion through performing arts and language education. Archana also serves as the board president of Konnekt Global, a youth nonprofit and President of the East Coast section of the International Dance Council (a UNESCO affiliated organization).
Her work is centered on fostering cultural understanding and advocating for multiculturalism in the NY/NJ Metropolitan area.
In 2023, we formally changed our name to AAPI New Jersey to reflect the statewide priorities and activities that this group of committed community members and advocates now supports.
We continue to host events and programs in Montclair and invite you to explore this site to learn more about the diverse resources and opportunities we offer.
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