A glimpse of the enthusiasm with which Dussehra, the festival of victory of good over evil, was celebrated across the country was also seen across the seven seas in America. People of the Indian community living in Houston city of Texas state organized the Dussehra festival with great pomp with the aim of connecting their children with the cultural heritage of the festivals.
All the preparations for the Dussehra program organized by the Indo-Americans KT organization in the American city of Houston were done by Shaili Pathak, wife of Alok Dubey, a resident of Guna, working in JP Morgan Chase Bank. Shaili is also a resident of Mathakari Colony, Guna and has shifted to USA with her husband Alok after marriage. All arrangements for the program organized under the leadership of KT Organization were made by Shaili Pathak. After this, when the occasion of Ravana Dahan came, the members of the organization first told their children in detail the importance of the 10 heads of Ravana. All the good and bad information about Ravana’s conduct, strength and actions was given to the children and the complete story as per Ramayana was told as to why he was burnt. The Indo-Americans of KT organization based in America took a unique decision and decided that the cremation should take place only through Mother Sita, who was the victim of Ravana’s atrocities. After this, Guna’s style also gave the reader the opportunity to burn Ravana, the symbol of Mother Sita. He burnt Ravana with the help of available resources (lighter). After this, Lord Shri Ram was chanted by the Indian community present. At the end of the program, everyone was provided refreshments by the organization.
Alok Dubey, a resident of Guna, said that a total population of 580 families reside in the Katy area of Houston. Of which 200 are Indians. Indian festivals are organized from time to time. This time, preparations for Dussehra were started 3 to 4 days in advance. Keeping in mind the Indian time, Dussehra festival was celebrated in America on the night of 11 October (in India then it was 12 October). More than 100 families participated in this program. The good thing is that for the first time the US government has issued permission to buy fireworks for the Diwali festival. Therefore the community came up with the idea of celebrating Dussehra festival and organized the event with full preparations. Earlier, permission to buy and use fireworks was allowed only on American Independence Day, July 4 and New Year on January 1.
Now preparations for Diwali begin
Alok Dubey has been living in the American city of Texas since 2009. According to him, the Indo-American community living in KT area celebrates all the festivals together. Diwali has a different atmosphere here. Mostly only Indian families participate in other festivals. But the celebration of Diwali is so grand that people of all communities, religions and nationalities participate. Preparations for Diwali have already started by Indo-Americans KT Organization. The style of celebrating Diwali here is also completely different. Traditionally, apart from worshiping Goddess Lakshmi, bursting fireworks and distributing sweets, cultural programs also take place. In which people from different cultures of India present different dances and programs. A fair is organized to witness this event.