By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Indian Community of Needham (ICON) came together to celebrate India’s 78th Independence Day. Also known as India Day, this day marks the end of the British rule that happened in 1947 which was brought about by the Indian Independence Act of July 18th of that same year. Through this Act, an establishment of a free and independent Indian nation was born.
This year, a free celebration was held at Powers Hall in Needham Town Hall and was open for all to come and enjoy. The night consisted of an array of activities, performances, children’s games and audience participation.
At the start of this event, ICON board members welcomed the 250 people in attendance and introduced themselves. Following this were multiple streamlined events including a performance on India’s freedom struggle using the Tabla, an ethnic fashion show, an open quiz with chances to win prizes, a Veena Recital, kids activities, a raffle, a BollyX performance and more.
President and Vice President of ICON Raja Shaikh and Sujata Sarda were seen amongst the crowd alongside their eleven other board members. When talking about this event with them, they explained how honored ICON was to bring the Needham community together. “We really tried to include a lot,” Shaikh stated, “to keep the spirit of what we were celebrating alive. We wanted to showcase people and show how diverse we are, yet at the same time we are all still united. We had invited those from the non-Indian community to come and witness the show as well. Our goal really has been to be more inclusive. We want everyone to be able to come in and display the sense of community, be together, and for all of us to support something like that.”
While ICON puts on this celebration every year, there is a lot of planning that goes on to make it happen. “A lot of sweat went into creating this event,” Shaikh discussed, “by the board members. We all have our everyday jobs so we had to put in some very late nights. It took us a lot of planning and we are still coming up with new things. We want to be noticed, be active, be helpful to the Needham community. And there is a growing community of Indians here in Needham and we would love for them to get involved with what we do.”
It is ultimately events like these that have the power to bring the community together and show the importance of these kinds of traditions and holidays. As ICON continues to grow, their overall message and goal continues to remain the same. “We are trying to do as much as we can,” Sarda explained, “to really engage the community. Our Community Engagement Chair has started cooking clubs, gardening clubs, knitting clubs and more. In the past we had held financial classes for middle and high schoolers. So we are also trying to educate our young community as well as provide platforms for celebration, interaction and engagement.”
The work they are doing at ICON is incredible. There is more they look forward to doing and it can be said with ease that many are hopeful this organization keeps growing. For more information about upcoming events like this, please visit ICON’s website at www.iconeedham.org.
