Lauren Teejai, a volunteer with the Gentiva Ocala Metro India Fest, shows a classical dance during The Indian Cultural Performance. The performance featured classical dances of India as well as Bollywood dance.
Beautiful bright colored fabrics were draped over smiling men, women and children who were all laughing, dancing and enjoying the Gentiva Ocala Metro India Fest in downtown Ocala.
The cultural experience event was hosted for the second year on Oct. 5 by the Strategic Community Alliance Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Ocala.
“We work to provide a cross cultural educational experience through outreach programs so we, the community as a whole, will have mutual respect and can bring people together to show how similar we all are,” said Dr. Sheni Meghani, president of the organization.
During the opening ceremony the Indian National Anthem was sung following the American National Anthem, and Meghani gave welcoming remarks to those who attended the event.
“I sang the American National Anthem last year and was very excited to do it this year,” said Morgan Thompson, an Ocala resident.
Guests had more than 10 different activities to keep them engaged during the seven-hour event, including free health and wellness programs.
Local experts led the audience from the stage in Intro to Yoga and Intro to Tai Chi, getting those interested to practice the moves. Guests also learned about the power of Indian spices from Dr. Srisha Rao, a cardiology doctor at the Cardiovascular Institute of Central Florida in Ocala.
“With our events we want to leave something that people can use year round and incorporate in their day-to-day to create a healthy lifestyle like yoga and tai chi,” Meghani said.
Dancing, music and fashion was a large part of the festival, with performances, fashion shows and a saree experience.
“This is not an event where you stand by and look at it,” Meghani said. “We want everyone, regardless of races and ethnicity to have hands on experience of any culture. We all have colleagues and friend of different cultures, what a great way to learn about and understand them like with hands on experience.”
The Indian Cultural Performance was a 30-minute dance performance with classical dances of India, folk dances of India and Bollywood dance. There was also a Bollywood Dance Along where the audience was invited to dance with the instructor.
During the folk dance portion of the performances, the women and the audience became guides for the younger girls dancing on stage making it a full interactive experience.
“I am excited for the chance to embrace Indian culture,” Thompson said. “When you don’t live in it, you don’t get to see it very often and it is nice to see it be celebrated. I love the fashion and the music.”
After the dancing died down for a brief moment, women were invited to wear sarees with the Saree Experience.
Prior to the brief closing ceremony, the dancing started back up for 45 minutes with the Garba Dance Along.
“Music arts dance is a big part of Indian culture and tradition,” Meghani said. ” We wanted to bring out the joy that comes from that. We also wanted to give a glimpse of the wide variety of Indian culture. By showing the entire rainbow of Indian diversity we are also highlighting the talents of those in the community.”
There were several merchant and food vendors set up during the event selling Indian foods, jewelry and fabric to get people immersed in the culture.
Riya Patel, owner of Riya’s Eyebrow Lounge in Ocala, did Henna tattoos on the event attendees.
“Henna symbolizes a new beginning and good luck,” Patel said, explaining that many Indian women get henna done before their wedding ceremony.
The program was entirely put on by volunteers and members of the community.
“Nobody gets any reimbursements. They volunteer their time and their talents,” Meghani said. ” There are different races and ethnicities of people who have been entrusted with putting this together. They have decades and decades of experience of putting large events together.”
She said there were about 30 volunteers who assisted with this year’s program.
“These are like-minded people who wanted to highlight diversity in a very positive way. Diversity is suppose to bring us together and not divide us,” Meghani said. “This is a not just about dance and music, this is what we believe that we as community.”
For those who missed the celebratory experience they will be able to look forward to the celebration happening around the same time next year.
“We want to make this an annual event and make it bigger by bringing some professional talent,” Meghani said. “With this we can not only highlight India, we can highlight all the cultures present in this community. Cultures come in such variety and we really want people to have a taste of that culture. Hopefully we will all appreciate how rich we are because we have so much diversity.”
For more information, visit scacommunities.org.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
Youth volunteers perform a collection of Indian folk dances, including a traditional dance performed only by girls and women, as part of the Gentiva Ocala Metro India Fest on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Citizens’ Circle in downtown Ocala.
