77th Independence Day of India: The Consulate General of India in Sao Paulo celebrated the day in the presence of members of the Indian community, dignitaries and Brazilian friends of India
Our Bureau
Sao Paulo, SP
The Consulate General of India in Sao Paulo celebrated 77th Independence Day of India on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, at Swami Vivekanand Cultural Center (SVCC) in the presence of members of the Indian community, dignitaries and Brazilian friends of India.
The day began with the hoisting of Indian flag by Indian Consul General, Ms Manisha Swami, at SVCC as Consulate officials, their families and members of Indian community and guests joined in the singing of Indian national anthem followed by the chanting of patriotic slogans like ‘Jai Hind’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. After the flag-hoisting ceremony, the gathering moved to the SVCC auditorium, where the Consul General read out the address of the President of India to the nation and conveyed her greetings to the community and those present at the gathering.
After the reading of the President’s speech, Ms Swami read out the pledge of people committing themselves to the task of nation building. With a diya (earthern lamp) on her palm, the Indian diplomat read the pledge in both Hindi and English as the members of the community repeated the words which also appeared on the screen at the stage in the auditorium which was beautifully decorated with flowers and balloons in the colors of Indian flag.
The cultural program of the day began with the rendition of a patriotic song by Mr Suraj Mohan, an official of the Consulate. The beautiful singing was accompanied by the rhythm of clapping by the audience. The song was followed by a table performance by Edgar Bueno who played the percussions in the style of dholak to the famous song ‘Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle…’ Then cultural performances ended with a series of dance moves set to a medley of patriotic songs from old and new Indian films.
After the end of a very engaging cultural performance, everyone gathered at the stage to take a group photograph, which was again followed by the chanting of patriotic slogans. After the formal gathering, the guests moved to the rooftop of the cultural center where a lovely spread of Indian food was served by Chef Deepali Bavaskar of Samosa & Company restaurant.
Despite being a working day, members of the community turned up in good number to participate in the Independence Day event. Among those present at the cultural center were Consuls Harish Baxla and Adarsh Mishra, SVCC director Dr Jyoti Shukla, Indian Association president Shobhan Saxena, prominent community members like Seema Patel, Pinaki Trivedi, Anil and Lissy Raut, Sandeep and Andrezza Bansal, Dhiraj More, Brazil-India Chamber of Commerce president Roberto Paranhos and start-up entrepreneur Erick Antanio among others.
