After a few years of having the desire to attend the annual Diwali festival, hosted by City of New York at the Mayor’s residence, this was to be my maiden voyage and very memorable occasion for me. I was invited to the grand Diwali Celebration at Gracie Mansion, and our esteemed hosts were the honorable Mayor Bill De Blasio and his beautiful wife Chirlane McCray.
Attired in a couture red lehenga made for this special occasion (styled by the very creative Jyoti of Vikhyat USA). I made my entrance at the mayor’s mansion only to be greeted by the beautiful rhythms of the tabla (drums) dancing on the wind of the cold November night. There humbly seated the table player played traditional taals on the drums to great the invited guests as we made our way to a beautifully adorned aisle with multicolored chiffon, which served to heighten the festive feeling of Diwali.
This exquisitely adorned aisle guided me into our formal accommodations; an enormous heated tent on the lawn of Gracie Mansion. The tent was well lit and had a warm glow, a familiar reminiscence of a lit diya in a window. Embellished with traditional and festive decorations, the tent had the lingering scent of incense, which infused the night’s air and lingered on every one and filled every inch of the room. There were palm trees placed around the room adding a very tropical and island feel to the décor.
As the night ebbed away guests rubbed elbows, immersed in conversation, enjoyed cocktails while waiters walked around with food. It felt like a lavish party. Traditional Indian finger foods were the order of the night and I could not resist trying the peera which was suggested by my friends Sara Golan and Sunil Sukhdeo, LOL, I have a weakness for things of the sweet persuasion. While enjoying my sweet treat my ears was titillated by the vibrant sound of music. As I turned around to see who the DJ was, I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face. It was my friend the one and only DJ Rekha whom I interviewed awhile back. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQH2vXgyE5g). Dj Rekha has been hosting basement bhangra for over 20 years. It was refreshing and empowering the see a female DJ in the spotlight. As I made my way around the room, I met some really cool people; first I met members of the NYPD Desi Society. (Only official and recognized fraternal organization representing South-Asian American Police Officers), Joya Dass (Lady Drinks co founder), singer Seeta Panday, Jeany Persaud, Commissioner Raj Rampershad, attorney Rhonda Binda and a host of others. As the evening commenced an announcement filled the air instructing all guests to make our way to the grandest of the three tents.
Pundit Chunelall, spiritual leader of the Shri Trimurti Bhavan did an exceptional job at representing our community by leading with the opening prayer and ceremonial lighting of the iconic diya. Pundit explained the significance of the lighting of the diya, he explained it is a universal light, a lighting of good over evil, love over hatred, peace over conflict and positivity over negativity and all off us should become the embodiment of the diya. He then acknowledged and invited the mayor and his wife on to the stage, all three joined in to light the diya. The honorable first lady of NY Chirlane McCray was invited to the podium. She complimented pundit Chunelall saying it was a moving invocation. Her speech was full of love as she mentioned about the significance of Diwali, she said Diwali “celebrates the light within us, we need it the most now because life is not always fair, the world can be a cruel place to live in it is so darn hard to be a human”. Another highlight of her speech was when she asked the crowd if she can count on us to take a mental health course, she then had one more request, to spread the word about 1-888-NYC-WELL, any new Yorker can talk with a trained councilor for free and make an appointment and she asked the crowd to repeat the number.
Miss McCray introduced her husband, Mayor Bill De Blasio, who wished his wife a happy Diwali and thanked her for the work she does. The mayor went on to wish the crowd happy Diwali and said “this is one of the most beautiful, fun events we have each year at Gracie Mansion, every one wants to come to this one, because it is so exciting, positive and beautiful”. He acknowledged the dignitaries on stage, he started off with a person who is the son of immigrants form India, Kapil Longani who is counsel to the mayor, the mayor then called out the rest of the dignitaries on stage. He gave a special thanks to pundit Narine and DJ Rekha who got a whopping cheer from the crowd. He then spoke about “the beauty about Diwali”. He said, “the lights of Diwali remind us that wisdom outshines ignorance and unity defeats division. It brings together people from around the world and people of different faiths all sharing of the glory of this holiday”.
The mayor introduced the guest of honor actress, model, television host, executive producer and award winning author Padma Lakshmi, He then awarded her with a proclamation and said “the best part is the last line today Tuesday November 20th 2018, declared Padma Lakshmi day in the city of New York”. Padma spoke to the crowd; with a beautiful smile of her face, soothing voice, dressed in a black jumpsuit and with a bindi on her forehead. She started off by stating DJ Rekha was the soundtrack of her life, and nominated DJ Rekha for next year’s guest of honor. Padma came to America when she was 4 and lived about three blocks away from Gracie mansion. She promised to fight for everyone to have a chance to have American dream and recognized that today is transgender day.
Her closing line was “this country is made up of us not them, us”. The program ended and we went back to mixing and mingling.
This celebration in this writer’s opinion was a resounding success. It not only acknowledges the ancient festival of Diwali, or our community, or our contributions to NYC, it acknowledges our existence and oneness as one part of a greater whole the makes up the wonderful city that is New York. It speaks volumes of the tolerance that this city harbors for its citizens and much like the radiant lights of Diwali, our light shines just as brightly in a sea of shimmering lights that is our beautiful city, New York.
May our lights shine across the seas of time, ever so brightly with out waiver and may our fair city always have longevity, prosperity, and may the diya always light our way as we journey forward together.
Video Credit: Taken directly from the Facebook page of the mayor