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The NY Phagwah Parade has come a long way

Mar 06, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
The colorful NY Phagwah Parade is tomorrow. Started by Guyanese, it has been the fulcrum of the Phagwah celebration since 1990.
It brings tens of thousands of celebrants together and people are grateful to those who conceived and initiated it two decades ago.
Up until 1990, there was nowhere to publicly celebrate Phagwah in the US. Several mandirs including the Arya Spiritual Center (Pts Ramlall and Satish), Gyan Bhakti Satsangh (Pts. Sukul and Upadhya) Bhai Kali), Mahatma Gandhi Satsangh Society (Oumadat), Shiva Temple (Pt. Sat), Brooklyn Hindu Temple (Pt. Viresh Maharaj), Lakshmi Mandir (Pt. Jadonath), etc. played Phagwah in or around the compound of their mandirs.
Celebrations changed with the launching of the parade with people eagerly looking forward for the festival which is now celebrated in grand splendor.
It is now a cherished institution in the community that brings so many people together.
It has become a wonderful celebration and we owe a debt of gratitude to all those who worked (tirelessly) to make it a huge success.
I remember writing about the launching of the parade in local NY papers and was also present for the post-parade analysis that took place among Pts. Dr. Satish and Ramlall and Ramesh Kalicharran at the latter’s real estate office in Jamaica; the three were the forerunners of the parade.
Credit must also be given to Anand Sukul, Bal Naipaul, Pt. Mahendra Doobay, Radharaman Upadhyaya, Pt. N.Bisnauth, Pt. Kishore, Pt. Krishna Tiwari, the Late Shri Prakash Gossai, the Late Dharmacharya Arjune Doobay and all others who were so closely involved with the first edition of the parade. All the organizers should be applauded for their input and contributions in the parade.
The parade has expanded from Queens to the Bronx and to Jersey City and up until recently there was also one in Queens Village and now one in Orlando.
The Richmond Hill parade is the largest gathering of Guyanese anywhere in the world. It is also the largest Phagwah Parade of its kind outside of India.
Guyanese Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan addressed the celebrants last year describing it as “massive”.
He said he read about it in the Guyana papers but did not realize it was so large.
The parade offers a public avenue to celebrate the joyous Spring festival known for its vibrancy of colors.
The parades and the celebration at various other locations render unnecessary the need to go house to house to celebrate or to pour abeer on celebrants as is done in Guyana.
The Parade has come a long way from decorating cars, trucks, flat beds, etc. It has professional floats.
It also has political recognition, with politicians from the mayor to Congressman to state and city legislators and the President of Queens County gracing the parade.
Mayor Bloomberg was Grand Marshall last year. Principals of surrounding schools attend the parade because so many of their students are Guyanese and they want to join in the culture as well. Politicians issue Phagwah proclamations in recognition of the celebration.
TV, radio and major newspapers provide coverage. The parade has been featured in India Abroad, News India Times, India Monitor, Asia on Line, India West, NY Newsday, Daily News, Fox 5, Channel 4, Channel 1 as well as several ethnic media.
But the parade has also been a source of disunity among some Guyanese over who should lead the march resulting in separate celebrations in Queens.
It is about time all groups work together. The community in the city is very small. It does not have the resources for them to fight each other. A united celebration is needed in Queens to impress officials about the size of the community so that it can win political and financial favors.
Congrats are in order to the initiators, founders, members, planners and organizers of the annual parade.
Everyone who played a role in starting the celebration and those who subsequently came onboard in planning and organizing of the annual festivities should be recognized and applauded for their contributions because they have helped to cement an important aspect of the Guyanese culture in NY.
Vishnu Bisram

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