Parade, Festival Mark 50 Years of India’s Freedom

Many came to pay respects to the leaders who died fighting for India’s independence. Others came to give a sense of their ancient culture to children growing up in Southern California.

Celebrating the Asian nation’s 50 years of freedom from British rule, thousands of Indian Americans gathered Saturday afternoon in the Artesia business district that serves mainly immigrants from the subcontinent.

For Arvind Jain, the day brought vivid memories of his childhood in New Delhi. To him, India meant the early morning treks that he and his brothers took to the Yamuna River. He recalled picking and eating watermelon on the sandy riverbanks.

“I miss my family,” he said. “I’m the only one over here.”

But Jain said he appreciates the thriving Indian presence in southeast Los Angeles County and feels little removed from his culture.

Pioneer Boulevard, a wide-laned main strip in this old dairy town, is the heart of Southern California’s Indian American community. More than 50,000 Indians live within a 10-mile radius of this suburban “Little India.”

Indian and Pakistani restaurants, spice shops, grocery stores and jewelry businesses fill the old storefronts and stucco strip malls that mark the way out of town.

On Saturday, waiting for a small parade, families gathered and ate pakora and samosa and drank mango shakes. Many of the women were wrapped in traditional saris--6 yards of untailored multicolored cloth. On their brows, many wore beauty marks called bindi. Some sat on straw mats, others on lawn chairs.

Saturday’s parade, sponsored by the Federation of Indo-American Associations, featured dignitaries, traditional Indian clothes and chants. Women cast carnations to the spectators.

As the parade began, Vipin Patel of Cerritos shouted with the crowd, “Long live Bharat [India]!” He came to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders of the Indian independence movement.

“It brings back memories of those who sacrificed their lives to independence,” Patel said. “We are so thankful to those who died. Sometimes I feel sad that I couldn’t help much more.”

Many recalled the days before independence as a time when Indians were far more unified.

“There was unity because everyone wanted the British out,” said Bhag Singh Karir of San Luis Obispo County. “Now it’s divided, because so many people are struggling for power.”

Karir grew up in a desert region in the state of Punjab. Where he lived, homes were made of mud and reeds. “The people were living from hand to mouth,” he said. “but the maharajahs [princes] had huge polo fields.”

In Punjab, independence only brought more war as the state was divided between India and Pakistan. But on the day in 1947 that India became free, Karir remembers rejoicing in the streets of Rajasthan, where he was living at the time. “We were really getting rid of slavery,” he said.

Jaya Vaswani brought her four children to the parade Saturday to give them a deep sense of their ancestral culture as they grow up in multiethnic Los Angeles.

“They don’t see the reality of how people in India live,” said Vaswani. “It’s just stories.”

She is looking forward to Rakhi, an upcoming Indian holiday when sisters give brothers a symbolic bracelet. “It’s just a reminder that the brother has a sister to protect,” she said.

While most people attending the parade came to celebrate their own heritage, many were there to enjoy a culture not their own.

“It was a nice Saturday outing,” said William Heckmann, who traveled with his wife from Studio City.

In Artesia Park, a cultural festival with entertainment and food booths was scheduled to begin in the evening and last into the night. Los Angeles-based singers Charanjeep and Jayshree Gohind were expected to perform. Fashion shows and a traditional Shaheed drama were also planned.