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Happy Diwali from San Diego

We had one of our big Diwali celebrations in San Diego on October 15, 2016. It was the Festival of Lights held at Balboa Park. It was a fantastic event, yet again. This year it was special, because as well as dancing, we had singing, and there was a world-class singer who entertained us, so it was truly magnificent. His name is Aditya Rao, and apparently he has won several awards, and has appeared in several videos like the one below:

Here he is performing at Balboa Park, and he’s also seen in this video that I made

Here is a video that shows the lighting of the lamps display, and the women carrying the lamps during the lamp parade.

Here is a video showing Punjabi music and specifically, Bhangra at the Festival Of Lights….spectacular!

Here are more photos showing Aditya Rao, and the performances that he was part of.

Adiyta Rao performs at Festival Of Lights, Balboa Park, San Diego

Here are some other pictures taken at Festival Of Lights

These are the lamps on display. I have never taken pictures of the lamps before as I always get a seat, and never venture towards the lamps, but this year I did, and I’m glad!

Festival Of Lights, Balboa Park, San Diego – October 15, 2016

Here are some of the other performances

Festival Of Lights, Balboa Park, San Diego – October 15, 2016

One of Aditya Rao again, with the main presenter

Festival Of Lights, Balboa Park, San Diego – October 15, 2016

Here’s little Chandra having fun!

Festival Of Lights, Balboa Park, San Diego – October 15, 2016

This is Aditya Rao standing with the main organizers and this is just prior to the Indian Anthem being sung

Festival Of Lights, Balboa Park, San Diego – October 15, 2016

President Barack Obama graced Diwali at Balboa Park with his presence, even though it was just on screen. He wished us a Happy Diwali! This was ever so nice, just to see President Obama in Balboa Park!

Festival Of Lights, Balboa Park, San Diego – October 15, 2016

I really love going to the Festival Of Lights, as I enjoy seeing the performances, seeing Balboa Park again, seeing the stage graced by beautiful dances in clothes that sparkle, and then of course the lights tinkle! I also enjoy eating the Indian food that is available from many of the vendors who participate in Festival Of Lights. This year I got samosas, chicken saag and rice, and gulab jamun – that was two trays of food for me and Chandra, which included passion fruit juice for her and a nice cup of Pumpkin Spice Chai that cost just $9. You can’t beat that price!

I hope you enjoyed my pictures of the Festival Of Lights, and I hope you all have a truly beautiful Diwali. May light conquer over darkness, may good prevail over evil, and may we all experience peace, joy and prosperity on Diwali, and in the year ahead. Happy Diwali!

November 11, 2015

in Celebrations, Cultural Events, Culture, Diwali, Diwali Mela, Festivals, Food, San Diego
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Happy Diwali!

Happy Diwali! I’ve had some sad news recently, so it’s hard to get into the mood for celebrations, but celebrate we must. Most of my celebrations shown here, took place before the recent sad event, so I am just sharing with you as a way of trying to get over some of my pain. As you may know, Diwali is known as the Festival Of Lights, and it signifies good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. May Diwali shine it’s light on my family, and yours. May the Goddess Lakshmi shower us with her love and blessings. If for some reason, the link does not take you to the gif image of Lakshmi, you may see it here on my Pinterest Board.

Here are some pictures I took at the Diwali Mela in San Diego on October 24, 2015:

Diwali Mela, San Diego – 2015

There were ever so many people there, these two pictures will give you a glimpse at part of the crowds, both during daylight and at night – it was packed!

Diwali Mela, San Diego – 2015

These girls had a very interesting costume, especially the head gear, but it certainly looked nice and colorful!

Diwali Mela, San Diego – 2015

Here, they are dancing with the dandia sticks. It’s a South Indian dance I believe.

Diwali Mela, San Diego – 2015

There were all kinds of dances, even hip hop!

Diwali Mela, San Diego – 2015

Also, there were American girls dancing to Bollywood music. I think they did a pretty good job.

Diwali Mela, San Diego – 2015

Here’s a video of their dance:

Diwali Mela, San Diego – 2015

Here is a video that includes a variety of the performances.

Unfortunately, I could not include all of the performances or show the entirety of each performance. I hope you like the videos, and I hope you like the pictures.

I also hope you will candles, and illuminate your home with just candlelight later this evening. Remember, let light prevail over darkness.

Diwali Lights

Don’t forget to eat some Indian food – how could you not when it’s Diwali! I have some virtual food and drink just for you! Here’s naan bread with lentils, chicken curry, rice and raita (Indian yoghurt).

Indian Food

I love samosas, you can’t enjoy Diwali without samosas, or at least I think so.

You might even want to have a special dish of mine – my very favorite, and of course it’s a Punjabi dish – Makhi Di Roti (bread made from corn meal/corn flour) and Saag (spinach)! You must give this one a try!

Makhi Di Roti and Saag

After this, you must have sweets. You must have burfi (can’t even describe how delicious they are – Indian fudge is the closes I can get to it, and oh, how I love fudge!). Then there’s gulab jamun (syruppy goodness) and jalebi (sticky and syruppy goodness).

Ambala Sweets & Snacks, Artesia

Gulab Jamun

Jalebi

You might want to try kheer, which is basically a delicious rice pudding dish – it is a little less sweet than the jalebi and gulab jamun. Sorry about the quality of this picture.

Kheer

Want more sweets? I knew you would!

Indian Sweets – Mithai

Then, if you’re like me, you’ll have to wash the sweets down with a delicious cup of chai.

Cup of Indian Chai

Now, hopefully that was a nice Diwali, some pictures, some entertainment, some food, some sweets and some tea!

Guess what? For the first time ever, we have been given the day off for Diwali in the USA and they didn’t even know they were giving us the day off for our special holiday! They thought they were giving us a day off for Veterans Day, well….I am very glad that we have Veterans Day! Thank you to all those who served, and made this day possible so that we could all be off together, and celebrate away from work! Please can we make Veterans Day next year be on Diwali too? Please? I don’t think it will happen again, as Diwali is on different days, sometimes in October, and sometimes in November. Still, it doesn’t hurt to ask or wish for it…….please, let it be on a holiday again, or better still – give us Diwali off (wishful thinking)!!! Anyway, must go and enjoy Diwali now. Happy Veterans Day, and Happy Diwali!

November 15, 2014

in CA, Cultural Events, Culture, Dance, Diwali, Diwali Mela, Entertainment, Indian Dance, San Diego
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Diwali Mela in San Diego – So Colorful!

The Diwali Mela took place in the Black Mountain Road area of Mira Mesa, San Diego on October 25, 2014. It was a packed-out event, and a great way to spend the evening. There were many performances to Bollywood songs, and of course at least one to Bhangra!

Here are some pictures, and at the bottom of this page, you can see some videos that I made. If there is one thing that should strike you from looking at the pictures is that Indian outfits are so colorful, as well as pretty!

Diwali Mela, San Diego

Now, for a break away from the performances – just take a look at all the people, and there were more!

Diwali Mela, San Diego

I tried a few different dishes including the Punjabi Karhi and Rice, one of my favorites – I should have taken a picture! I did take one of the Alloon Paratha – which were quite delicous (bread stuffed with potatoes and spices, that is cooked on a tava or griddle, and then smothered with oil or butter).

Diwali Mela, San Diego

Now back to the pictures of the performers.

Diwali Mela, San Diego

I hope that added some color into your day!

Here is the video showing the Punjabi dance:

Here is the video showing the Rajasthan dance:

Here is the video showing a variety of the performances, including the women’s fashion show and the men’s fashion show.

Don’t miss the performance towards the end of this last video showing a dance to Bang Bang – the Bollywood movie starring Hrithik Roshan, and watch out for the little boy in the audience who definitely has dance fever!

October 19, 2014

in Balboa Park, CA, Culture, Diwali, Photos, San Diego, Sightseeing, Travel
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Diwali at Balboa Park, 2014

I love Diwali, the Indian Festival Of Lights that is celebrated by Indians all over the world. Diwali has its roots in the story of Rama and Sita, and while I won’t go into the historical aspect – let’s just say that Diwali shows us how good triumphs over evil. We celebrate this wonderful time with family, friends, good food, music and often entertainment. While Diwali is on October 23rd this year, we celebrated it in Balboa Park on October 18th. Here are some pictures taken at the Organ Pavilion – the site of the 7th Annual Diwali Celebration in Balboa Park.