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A warm show of colors for a celebration of India’s 80th Independence Day in Juneau
- Mark Sabbatini
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Bollywood dance flash mob performs for tourists and locals as part of festivities that have become a tradition during the past several years
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Amy Nye says she knows a lot more about India, especially its festivals, since joining a local Bollywood dance flash mob for the past two years.
The dancers performed under the sun at Elizabeth Peratrovich Plaza early Saturday evening as part of a celebration in Juneau of India’s 80th Independence Day. It’s the fourth time the occasion has been observed locally by the downtown restaurant Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine, which since 2022 has also hosted an annual Holi festival in March that in addition to dancing features tossing lots of colorful powder in the street.
"It's fun to come together with other friends that enjoy dancing," Nye said before the Independence Day dance performance. "I've sure learned a lot from this."
When asked about the biggest difference between festivals in India compared to the U.S., she said "I’d say what stands out is the colors that come out."
Her daughter, Kira Bell, 10, who like her mom was wearing a traditional Indian ceremonial dress, passed out flags from that country to people sitting along the cruise dock rail before the dancing started. Many of them joined the crowd to watch the performance before an invite was extended for observers to join in.
Watching the festivities was Jenny Lalwani, a Bombay native whose family owns a jewelry store in downtown Juneau. She said there’s numerous other people from her home country involved with other stores downtown, so there’s also plenty of interest in the celebrations.
"This one, I come every year," she said, referring to the Independence Day celebration.
The Times of India, in an article explaining the significance of the country’s 80th Independence Day that celebrates its freedom from British colonial rule, notes two themes being emphasized in the homeland this year are paying tribute "to the National Song on a genuinely major anniversary," and a "focus firmly on young Indians and the role they're expected to play in building what the government calls a Viksit Bharat, a developed India, by the year 2047, which will mark a full century of independence."
This year’s event in Juneau was supposed to feature a tug-of-war tournament for the first time. Nimmy Phillips, the restaurant’s owner and organizer of the celebrations, said it’s a popular competition in her home country and four local teams signed up, but ultimately not enough of the participants showed.
But since the rope was there, the dancers split into two teams for a ceremonial faceoff and photo-op before their dance performance.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
