Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America (BJANA) held its spectacular annual Diwali celebration on Oct 16th, 2022, in the ballroom of the Royal Albert Palace, NJ, USA. The event was attended by more than 600 community members from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware.

The event was fun and filled with cultural programs, including dance and singing by the children from the community and adults, exhibitions by sponsors, important messages by the chief and honored guests, delicious Indian cuisine, and a dance floor. There was also a lucky draw for a diamond ring.

The Diwali issue of the “Vaishali” magazine was also inaugurated and children contributing to the magazine were awarded certificates. The highly popular event was sold out five days in advance and was attended by BJANA committee members, honored guests, and community leaders.

BJANA kids participated in the Annual BJANA event where they did a bake sale, and a Jewelry sale. They also participated in घरौंदा making and displayed there in the Diwali Event which was the center of attraction and made people nostalgic. BJANA appreciates all the kid’s efforts and participation in the kid’s corner.

The Chief Guest of the event was Dr. Krishna P. Singh, who hailed from Barhiya in the Lakhisarai district in Bihar, is the Chief Executive Office of Holtec International, a prominent leader in wet spent fuel storage technology in the nuclear industry with a consequential future as the first-tier company in carbon-free energy technology. Dr. Singh shared his journey from Barhiya to the founding of Holtec to the current success of the company and emphasized successful entrepreneurship as being resilient, self-confident, fearless of failure, and having no shortcut to success. He also emphasized the need to move beyond caste politics and corruption in the interest of our community rather than personal self-interest. Dr. Singh was felicitated by the Consul General of India in New York, Mr. Randhir Jaiswal.

Other members felicitated were the leaders of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) for achieving two Guinness World Records for the most number of different flags flown simultaneously and the largest ensemble of the musical instrument Damru as a part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations in New York on August 21, 2022, and, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Bihar representing Parbatta municipality.

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar emphasized his support to broaden cooperation from the Bihar government in strengthening business ties between companies in Bihar and USA and invited businesses in the USA to invest in Bihar. Mr. Sripat Pandey from Tuchman Foundation, a non-profit foundation in the USA, was also honored for support of BJANA. The Consul General felicitated the chief and honored guests and wishes Happy Diwali to all.

BJANA President Mr. Anurag Kumar addressed members and guests at the event and discussed BJANA’s current fundraising drive and its charitable activities in USA, Bihar, and Jharkhand. He thanked the chief guest Dr. Singh and honored guests consul general new york Mr. Jaiswal, deputy consul general new york Dr. Varun Jeph, MLA Bihar Government Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, FIA team members led by FIA past president Alok Kumar, sponsors, partners, BJANA founders, past presidents, and all community members to make the event such a grand success.

The event had several exhibits, including exhibits on “Made in Bihar” by BIHARIKA and “Made in Jharkhand” by JHARCRAFT to promote art and handicrafts products, such as Tribal Ornaments, Brass items, Sikki Works, Wooden works, Tikuli and Madhubani paintings. These art and craft highlighted the rich historical past of Bihar and Jharkhand. Consulate General of India Randhir Jaishwal appreciated the work done by BJANA for promoting the products from Bihar and Jharkhand and Tourism