India Fest Celebrates Indian Culture

India’s 65th Independence Day was celebrated at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Saturday August 20, 2011 with many prominent dignitaries including the Mayor of Houston and a cultural extravaganza.

It was not the largest turn out this year but the enthusiasm amongst Indian Americans was in full swing. The India Fest organized by India Culture Center kicked off with a unique dance presentation from 14 states of India in 14 different languages choreographed by Rathna Kumar of Anjali School of Dance. Sixteen different associations participated in the Independence Day Parade that was held indoors.

The main highlights of the India Day celebration were Miss Teen Texas USA Pageant and Little Champ Talent Award Ceremony. There was a lot of excitement and it was heart warming to see children under the age of six with high motivation and talent. They were fearless with no stage fright, all were so adorable and aligned with their rich Indian roots.

The winner for the Miss Teen Texas USA Pageant was bagged by Neha Reddy; Rupal Mehta was the second place winner and third was Thurshara Korattyil.

There were about 85 booths and with more than three months of planning and organizing the event was overall quite impressive. Spotted at the function Judge Ed Emmett, Jacquie Baly Chaumette, Sonal Bhuchar, Marie Goradia, Swatantra Jain, Sanjay Ram, Anu Bala, Thomas Abraham, Bangar Reddy, Sam Merchant, and many other political personalities, fashion designers, and performers.

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