Just after sunset fireworks lit the sky above the East River mesmerizing children, bringing couples closer together, and awing a crowd of thousands at South Street Seaport. The American Indian Association held its 20th annual Deepvali Festival to celebrate the Indian New Year.
A handful of tourists and over 40,000 Indians attended the event, according to the AIA. Some held their ears as they walked by the DJ who was blasting Jazzy Bains’ modern Punjabi music as hundreds of teenagers danced. Women rummaged through piles of pashminas and saris for sale, and families watched proudly as their children’s dance teams performed on a large out door stage.
Almost all of the attendees had one thing in common: they were from India and continue to celebrate their culture and heritage while living in New York. But the differences among the Indians stood out as vividly as the oranges and greens of the veggie and cheese dishes at the buffet. Some people dressed in saris and sulwars and others dressed in polo shirts and jeans. Some had “blow out” hairdos and others wore turbans. Some didn’t drink or smoke and others did.
“People here are from all over the tri-state area and many different parts of India,” said Dr. Bal Gilja, a committee member of AIA. Gilja helps plan the event so Indians can share their culture with each other and the public.
More than 200,000 Indians live in New York City, with more than half of that number living in Queens, according to the New York City Department of City Planning. Others are dispersed throughout the other four boroughs, New York state, Long Island, and New Jersey. Indians’ strong social ties have helped them develop occupational niches that range from cab driving to store managing, but many Indians, who tend to be highly educated, become technology specialists or doctors as well. As the number of Indians moving to New York grows, the length of time an Indian spends in the states, his/her religion (most typically Sikh, Hindu, or Muslim), caste and family’s adherence to tradition are factors that divide the larger Indian community into many subgroups.
“I was born in the United States and I still know my Indian culture,” said Tony Singh, 23, a taxi driver from Queens.
Singh goes to temple weekly and has parents who are traditional but have adjusted to living in America.
“My parents accept that I cut my hair,” said Singh who wears his hair gelled straight up in a blow-out hair style that matches his friends hair-dos. “I’m not supposed to because I’m Sikh, I’m supposed to wear a turban.”
Even though he has never lived in India where the caste system dictates social life Singh and his friends only hang out with other Sikhs from their caste.
Prity and Ritu Kaur, 19-year-old twins dressed in trendy outfits, are less traditional than Singh with friends from different Indian religions and castes. Ritu Kaur’s boyfriend is Bengali and her parents don’t mind, for now.
“My parents want us to have arranged marriages but they are understanding,” said Ritu Kaur. “Like, we can meet people to marry on our own as long as they are Punjabi and in our caste which we’ll be okay with when we are older,” she said.
The Kaurs moved to New York from Punjab when they were four years old and couldn’t imagine moving back to India.
“My father is from a village, said Pritty Kaur. I wouldn’t be able to go live in a village now.”
Baljinder Kaur, 22, is also a Sikh from Punjab but unrelated to the twins , has only been in New York for one year and wants to return to India. She wore a bright orange sari and a bindi between her eyes.
“I’m not comfortable here yet with all the buses and streets and I only know my family,” said Baljinder Kaur. “We go to each other’s houses to cook and help clean and go to temple on Sundays like in India but I miss being in my country,” said Kaur. Like many other Indians Kaur came to join her family and seek better economic opportunities after finishing school in India.
Ram Patel, 22, a Hindu from Gujrat, India came to New York on his own four years ago to work and to be away from his parents and siblings. His uncle lives here and owns two newsstands in Union Square and on 34th Street. Patel is paid $8 an hour to sit in his uncle’s newsstand on 14th Street and Union Square West selling mostly cigarettes, soft drinks, and candy.
“I sit here, watch the women and make friends,” said Patel. He lives with five other young Indian men in a small apartment in North Bergen, N.J. and regularly sends half of his weekly salary to his parents in India.
“I’m free here, whatever you want to do you can do it,” Patel said.