United Federation of Indo American of California (UFICA) celebrate
India's Independence Day at Lakewood, LA on Aug. 09, 2008

Los Angeles, Aug. 11, 2008
Gary Singh

Fifteenth of August is round the corner. NRI organizations in major cities of the world have scheduled events to commemorate India Independence Day in the month of Aug. Independence Day is an occasion to rejoice in our freedom and to pay collective homage to all those people who sacrificed their lives to the cause.

As usual, this year, United Federation of Indo American of California (UFICA) chose a Grand Master (from among Indian celebrities) actor, Upen Patel and Mahima Chaudhry, Indian Actress.

Upen Patel, who himself hails from the NRI community in Britain, said, “It’s a privilege and an honour to be part of the Independence Day celebration. I am lucky to be invited as the Grand Master by UFICA and the Indian community in LA,”

Mahima Chaudhry, 2nd year in a row, was part of India's Independence Day celebrations at Artesia High School, California, USA. Mahima Chaudhry was a model before she became an actress.

The ceremony was held at Artesia High School Grouds, Lakewood, near Indian Bazar, 20 miles from Los Angeles and started about 5.30 pm and ends 10.30pm. The audience were absolutely spellbound for the complete length of this program.

Surinder Mehta, 72 who was with his grand children, was enjoying Indian music and eating Indian food, said, "I think we are in India."

Gurpal Singh Sood, function organizer, said, more than 100 colorful booths participated and attracted 12000-15,000 people in this event. It looked like mini Indian Bazaar. The booths were selling Indian arts, crafts, jewelry and apparel. The Indian Restaurants offered a mouth-watering selection of delicious Indian cuisine. Insurance, insvestments, banks and car dealera also booked booths to make awareness about their products.

Volvo dealer, Power-Volvo, Cerritos displayed cars to attract NRIs market. The manager, Edie Abbas said, "His company offer NRIs competitive vehicle purchase, lease financing, and protect their purchase such as Service Contracts, Pre-Paid Maintenance, Theft Protection, Gap Protection, etc."