NASHUA, NH – On Saturday the Nashua Public Library (NPL) in partnership with the Indian Association of New Hampshire (IANH) presented the PASSPORT TO INDIA event. This Passport event is one in a continuing series presented by NPL.
Unfortunately, the weather forced the event indoors so the crowd gathered in the basement level of the NPL for performances, activities, and delicious Indian food. More than 200 people attended.
The IANH is a local nonprofit with over 300 local families as members. The group’s goals are to support the Indian-Asian community, present cultural and educational programs, perform charitable services, and promote goodwill between India and the United States.
Manoj Chourasia, Vice president of IANH and a resident of Nashua is proud to share Indian culture. This event at the library helps IANH achieve its goal of fostering cultural awareness.
“This is a great event with the library to showcase culture and diversity in New Hampshire. This is very important because India is a country that has gone through so many changes, it is a diverse country. It is the largest democracy in the world. We have much to be proud of.”
Multiple dancers and musicians performed, much to the delight of the crowd. Director Neha Parikh operates the Chidambaram Nritya Kala (Dance Arts) Academy in Nashua. Her students performed classic Indian dance numbers in authentic dress.
“There are seven formal forms of Indian classical dance that we teach. I’m happy to have my students perform some of them here today,” said Parikh.
Members of the Rivier International Student Association (RISA) provided free henna body art for the attendees. Henna is a temporary body art traditionally used in Indian culture as a form of blessing for new brides and grooms.
August 15th is Indian Independence Day making the timing of this event especially significant. This year marks the 78th year of Indian Independence from British Rule. To commemorate this the Indian National flag will be ceremoniously hoisted over Nashua City Hall. The ceremony will be held this Tuesday the 6th at 4 p.m. and is open to the public. The flag will fly over city hall for a week to honor India.
