NY Mayor Eric Adams joins Grand India Day Parade organized by FIA 

Grand Marshal Telugu Megastar Allu Arjun leads the show in New York City

Our Bureau
New York, NY

Billed as the world’s biggest India Day parade and India’s Independence Day celebration outside the country, the annual India Day Parade was held in New York City, celebrating India’s 75th anniversary of Independence. Telugu megastar Allu Arjun was the grand marshal and New York Mayor Eric Adams as Special Guest at the parade held on Sunday, August 21, 2022 which saw a turnout of thousands enthusiastic people, both as marchers and as the audience along the route on Madison Avenue in New York city.

New York Mayor Eric Adams accompanied by Dilip Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner, International Trade, Direct Investment and Innovation lead the parade, waving Indian flag. Mayor Adams stressed the importance of India and Indian community in rebuilding New York in the post-pandemic era. Chauhan, who became the first Indian to have received special honors during the evening gala dinner. Chauhan said, “New York city is ready to do business under the leadership of Mayor Adams”. Mayor Adams was later joined by Jumani Williams, the Public Advocate.

The Grand Marshal of the Parade, Allu Arjun, a “Pan-Indian” super star, excited the crowds as his float passed by, and they saw him waving the tricolor vigorously. The wide variety of floats signified the diversity of India as they went by, including trade and business, but also regional floats representing different parts of India represented by organizations here.

FIA president Kenny Desai said FIA had in its own way tried to honor India by attempting the records and “making our motherland shine in our homeland.” Desai said FIA has made India proud and this achievement is a tribute to the unknown and unsung heroes of the freedom struggle.  FIA chairman Ankur Vaidya said that these records are dedicated to the global community. He thanked the community for their support without which the feat would not have been possible. 

Also, the event was attended by Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda His Excellency Gaston Browne. Indian Consul General of New York Hon. Randhir Jaiswal graced the event. Several Past Presidents of FIA including Dr. H.R Shah, Bipin Patel, Anil Bansal, Andy Bhatia, Prabir Roy, Dr Praveen Chopra and Dr. Sudhir Parikh among others joined the parade.  This year’s Parade convenor was Prem Bhandari.

The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) has settwo Guinness World Records for the largest number of different flags flown simultaneously and the biggest ensemble of Damru, an ancient musical instrument associated with Hinduism and Buddhism.

South actor Allu Arjun on Monday, was honored by the Mayor of New York, Eric Adams as he represented India as the Grand Marshall in the annual Indian day parade.  Taking to Instagram, the Pushpa actor shared a post, which he captioned, “It was a pleasure meeting the Mayor of New York City. Very Sportive Gentleman. Thank You for the Honors, Mr. Eric Adams. Thaggede Le!”