Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

The Indian Independence Day anniversary this year on August 15th, was the 69th one since India got it’s independence from the British.  I had a day off from work on Friday, 14th August, and already showed you Day 1, which we spent mostly in Artesia – LA’s Little India.  I love visiting Artesia.  Here at home in San Diego, we also have a Little India in the Black Mountain Road area of Mira Mesa, but I do enjoy going to Artesia from time to time.

Day 2 of our little mini-vacation started off at Knotts Soak City, which I already showed you in another post, and now I will show you more pictures of the actual Indian Independence Day Celebration in Artesia (part of Los Angeles).

These pictures were taken towards the end of the evening, and show Bollywood star Raveena Tandon on the stage.  The first picture shows when she was lighting a lamp as part of the day’s celebrations.

Raveena Tandon at Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

This picture shows the lighting of the lamp a little bit more clearly

Raveena Tandon lighting the lamp at the Indian Independence Day Celebration

This picture just shows Raveena looking very elegant, and beautiful on this great day.

Raveena Tandon at Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

My daughter Niki and I got to the event at around 5:45 pm, and we thought we were late.  We were relieved when we found out that it hadn’t started yet, so we walked around.  Here is Niki enjoying having the day off from dancing and being able to watch her friends peform instead.

Indian Independence Day Celebration

We walked around and looked at all the wonderful food, I really should have taken more pictures of the other food stations – there were so many.  This picture shows Pani Puri.  I remember we used to have these back in England, and called them Gol Gappa, not sure if I am spelling that properly.  They would puff up a lot sometimes while they were fried, and when they came out of the fryer, we would delight in poking a hole in them, and would pour tamarind sauce in to the hole in the center, and oh my gosh, that was one of the tastiest treats ever! They don’t make them here, like my Grandma made them back in England.  We used to eat them right after she fried them, and they were so yummy!  I think Pani Puri are just the same as Gol Gappa, but I do have to question it as they don’t taste as good as my Grandma’s Gol Gappa! I think Gol Gappa might be the Punjabi word for Pani Puri.

Indian Independence Day Celebration

Oh, I have one more picture of another of the food stations

I had a sample of some great chai!  Oh, how I love chai!  This one was just the way I like it – piping hot and made with chai masala.  I ended up buying some mixes as when I am home, I just make tea the English way by brewing it in a cup, and can’t be bothered going the extra step and making Indian tea (chai) properly.  However, when I go out to Indian restaurants, I love to drink chai – I want my proper Indian tea then!

Chai Moments At Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

After we wandered around for a bit, it was time to see some performances.  It started off with this little boy dancing.  Oh, he was so cute.  You can see him and the others who performed in the video, directly below his picture (excuse the hand that got in the way).

Performances At Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

Please do watch my video of the Performances, this was the main event of the celebration, and of course, the star of the event was Raveena Tandon.

Then there were more performances, here is an assortment of pictures:

Indian Independence Day Celebration

Indian Independence Day Celebration

Indian Independence Day in Los Angeles

Indian Independence Day Celebration

Indian Independence Day Celebration

Indian Independence Day Celebration

Did you know there was a Congressman in attendance?  Yes, there was.  Congressman Ed Royce (R) serves the 39th Congressional District in Orange County and eastern Los Angeles.  I made a video of him too, but did not add it to the Performances video!

Congressman Ed Royce at Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

Some more pictures of the performances

Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

Indian Independence Day Celebration in Los Angeles

Then, guess what another great thing happened at this event, they had a great sale and all clothes were only $1 each.  Yes, you read it right  – just $1 each.  I bought seven items and it was so worth it.

Indian Independence Day Celebration

I hope  you enjoyed seeing my pictures, and the video of the Performances.  In case you haven’t yet seen the video that I made of when Raveena Tandon was made upset, here it is: