Indian American group gets jump on Diwali festival with celebration at Babylon's Overlook Beach
Angel Shah, 13, of Jericho, dances at the Deepavali Festival at Overlook Beach in Babylon on Saturday. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Her left hand inked with mahogany-colored spirals, petals and leaves, Shweta Sood squeezed homemade henna from a piping bag. Because the blend contained only natural ingredients — sugar, henna powder, eucalyptus oil — the stain would take longer to develop, she said.
“Natural henna, it takes its own sweet time,” said Sood, of Farmingville.
Sood was among the vendors in white tents at Babylon’s Overlook Beach on Saturday, as the New York chapter of the Association of Indians in America held its Deepavali Festival on Long Island for the first time. The event, in its 38th year, was a daylong celebration of traditional Indian dances, music, food, drink and art in the lead-up to Diwali.
Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights, starts this year on Oct. 18 and lasts five days. The main day, Lakshmi Puja, will be celebrated on Oct. 20 in the United States and on Oct. 21 in India.
Saturday’s schedule included dance and music performances, zumba and yoga classes, a fashion show and a Rangoli competition — a two-hour event that invites participants to create works of art in real time.
A singing program was set to feature children and teenagers singing upbeat Bollywood songs, said Yashswini Malhotra, 15, of Levittown.
“We’re hoping people come and dance and listen to our songs and just, they can vibe to it,” said Malhotra, who goes by Yasha.
Dressed in canary yellow, her gold earrings dangling as she spoke, Sia Gupta said the goal was to foster a “nice, bright time.”
“The entire point of it is to uplift spirits,” said Gupta, 15, of Levittown.
Dance group member Saanvi Mehta, 13, of Jericho, said she would be dancing and spinning to famous Bollywood songs — part of a larger effort to “bring India to America a little bit.”
“We also want to spread awareness about the Indian culture, and everything around it and the beauty of it,” Saanvi said.
Among event vendors were bubble tea, cotton candy and popcorn purveyors; there was the Henna artist, a face painter, and an ice cream truck. Sood’s friend and neighbor, Shilpa Karnik, was selling saris, lehenga choli clothing, bags and jewelry.
“I’m hoping that we have a lot of people come in, and I can sell off my goods,” Karnik said.
Until this year, the annual event had taken place in New York City, said Beena Kothari, president of the New York chapter of AIA. As a Babylon resident, Kothari said she was both nervous and excited for the change.
In a Friday night phone call, Kothari described the moment she was looking forward to most. Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, she said, the light of more than 1,000 electric candles would interrupt the darkness. There, alongside the Atlantic Ocean, those observing Diwali would pray.
“That’s my favorite moment,” Kothari said. “The god is going to be with us tomorrow, you wait and watch.”
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Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.
