The cultural program of the 8th annual Festival of India (FOI), organized by the India American Cultural Association (IACA), was celebrated with grandeur this year at the Robert Ferst Center for Arts in Georgia Tech on August 15th. Today, the FOI is the single largest Indian community event in the Southeast since it’s inauguration in 1997, and brings together a culturally diverse audience to enjoy, explore, educate and entertain.

‘Incredible India’— the theme for the evening of cultural extravaganza was carried through gracefully by the hosts Suchita Vadlamani, the beautiful and vivacious Fox 5 anchor and Suvrat Bhargave, a cool and pleasant personality. To start with, the audience was enthralled by Tulika Mukherji’s rendition of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. Under Dr. Raktim Sen’s supervision, children aged from 4 to 12 years, dressed in seven different states’ attire performed the ‘Jana Gana Mana’. 

A ‘diya dance’ by 10 women dressed in saffron, white and green evoked feelings for the Indian Flag. Following that, a wonderful medley of Hindi patriotic songs sung by Rakhi Banerjee with keyboard support from Sriganesh Sangodkar stirred up emotions in people. A group of 16 young girls with colorful dresses added pace to the program. All the while, colorful slideshows were shown in the background along with the participants’ names. 

The evening proceeded with alternate shows of ancient forms of classical dance and modern hip-swinging Bollywood dances. Among them, prominent Kathak dancer Aparna Sharma’s students enacted the age-old Radha Krishna romance and devotion. Preeti Vinayak Shah’s “Chayya Chayya” song put the people on a fast train ride. Modern dance group ‘Bindaas’ made the audience cheer and hoot at their version of newer movie songs. Sashikala Penumurthy’s students did a wonderful piece of ‘Kuchipudi’ followed by a hilarious Tamil dance drama depicting the highs and lows of arranged marriages. Students of Revathi Komanduri presented ‘Dasavatharams’ in a very elegant manner. David Householder, the ventriloquist wooed the audience with his Indian hand puppet and an almost perfect Indian accent. An innovative creation of poetry by the students of Padmaja Kelam was a hit with the people. 

The evening ended with a vibrant dance performance by ‘Silent Killers’ lead by Prem. Fluid movements added to the upbeat climax of the music, ending with deafening applause.

Earlier, Dr Paddy Sharma, President of IACA, welcomed the gathering and invited them to join IACA. Chand Akkineni, co-chairman of FOI, who started the festival in 1997, spoke about various activities on 14th. Ani Agnihotri, another co-chair, spoke about the new India Center to be built at the IACA’ property in Smyrna.