The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Park was filled with India's cultural richness and diversity for Archana 2011 on Saturday for the festival, presented by the India Friends Association. There were many of India's culinary treats — such as Bhelpuri, a salad-type food, and Kulfi, Indian ice cream — and clothing and jewelry to purchase. "Today is a chance for the general public to come out and enjoy the Indian culture," said volunteer Madhu Bajaj. "Everyone here is a volunteer. We are here to support the cause."
Her son, Anshul Bajaj, 7, was looking forward to performing during the evening's Indian cultural variety show. "They are singing and dancing about hope," his mother said. Proceeds from the evening show in the Fred Kavli Theatre support projects in India "that empower the poor and create sustainable change," Bajaj said. "We hope to raise over $150,000." "We've practiced about three months and I'm really excited," Anshul said. "Today is a lot of fun. I've done this for three years."
During the daytime festival, there was free entertainment on the outdoor stage, exhibiting song and dance from India. Guests were invited to step up on stage to learn how to dance. "I'm performing on the outdoor stage today," said Sarandeep Sidhu, 15, of Moorpark. "I'm going to be doing Bhangra and a Bollywood dance. I love coming here to see the different Indian cultures and I want to learn more about my culture." For educational purposes, at the far west point of the grounds, a volunteer was explaining small scenes set up of an Indian village spring ceremonial, a rural kitchen and a wedding.
"The bride and groom have to go around the fire seven times to take their vows. Every time they go around, they promise one thing," said IFA volunteer Jyoti Sahai. "At the end of it, they are declared married. The entire family is involved and some ritual is assigned to every relative." Simi Valley's Madelyn Fajardo has been to India many times and said she is drawn to the food. "I came out here today to see the things they have for sale and taste the wonderful foods. I'm buying a necklace already."
"I'm looking forward to tasting some spicy Indian food," said Bill Koth, who brought his family from Ventura. Delilah Orloff from Simi Valley was at one of the Indian shirt booths. "I'm having trouble deciding which one and how many," she said with a laugh. "These are beautiful. I brought my whole family. This is going to be a fabulous time. We're going to eat, we're going to shop and it's a beautiful day." The Mundle family is in California, on vacation from India. They are visiting their relative, Jayshri Sharma, in San Jose and traveled to Thousand Oaks for the festival because Sharma's daughter was in the evening show.
"I am surprised to see something like this," said Mikhil Mundle. "This has a mini-world of India all in the same place. It is difficult to find all these cultures and languages all in the same place even in India." Volunteer Susan Seats from Camarillo has been to India eight times. "I volunteer because after having gone so many times and the people were so nice to me, I saw such poverty there that I wanted to come back and do something. The first time I went there 20 years ago, I met Mother Teresa and did some volunteer work there."
"I was just driving by and saw this, so I stopped to look at all the different traditions and cultures of India," said David Church. "That gentleman over there was explaining to me the different temples and areas of India." "A lot of love and commitment goes into something like this," said Kailash Narayan, president of India Friends Association. "It doesn't happen by itself. This is an outpouring of support from the community volunteers. They come year after year."
