Mrs. Yash Garg is the founder of Heritage India Association of North Carolina.  She has served on the Board of Directors of Hindu Society and Hindi Vikas Mandal, N.C. for a number of years.   She promotes Indian culture at large community events like the International Festival of the City of Raleigh, Heritage India Festival, Children’s Day and Gandhi Jayanti celebration.   She was instrumental in starting Hindi classes at NC State University  and  taught two courses in  Hindi at NC State for a number of years.

She came to US in 1974 as a graduate student at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio where she finished her Masters in Educational Media.  She also did her masters in Library and Information Science from Indiana University, Bloomington.  She holds masters in Sanskrit and English from Panjab University, India and worked as instructor in Library Science at the Pubjab  Univesity Library, Chandigarh before coming to U.S. She came to Raleigh in 1985.  She was employed as Head  librarian for Retrospective Conversion and  Federal  Projects at the State Department of Cultural Resources, Raleigh  from 1986 to 1996.  Since 1996 she is working as  Head of the Curriculum Materials Center and Film Library, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC.

Tell us about Raleigh International festival and your involvement?

International Festival is celebrated during the first week of October annually.   Thousands of people visit this festival from all over the State.  The festival brings the various International cultures to the Festival- goers.  This is a great place to showcase Indian culture as Americans get a chance to see the Indian cultural performances, visit Cultural exhibits, and taste Indian gourmet food. “ I coordinate Indian participation for International Festival under the aegis of Hindu Society of North Carolina, a premier organization of Indians in the Triangle area.”   We participate in all phases of the event -- Main stage Dances, Children’s Matinee, Indian bazaar, Indian Café, Indian cultural Booth displays,   and Food demonstrations.   The Indian performances are composed of 3-age groups – children, teenagers, and adults; more than 100 participants perform Indian folk dances each year,  generating a lot of interest and appreciation by the audience, mainly Americans.   Henna is a very popular Indian cultural art, which is designed by Ramesh Patel, a famous artist, for the event-goers at a nominal cost -- all the proceeds from café, bazaar and Henna go to HSNC.

Mrs. Saroj Sharma, then President of Hindu Society, introduced me to represent Indian culture at the International Festival  in 1986.   Mrs. Sharma took care of Café and Bazaar in the beginning and I coordinated the performances  for main stage and Cultural Exhibits.  Even now, both of us work together and coordinate the activities with many volunteers.   I feel that we must bring our community together as our participation showcases rich Indian culture and educate Americans about India.

What inspired you to teach Hindi and work for Hindi Vikas Mandal?

I have a Masters degree in Sanskrit.  My mother tongue is Hindi – grew up in a family where Hindi was the medium for all communications.  I used to contribute articles in Hindi to Magazine while I was at the University in Chandigarh, India.   When I moved to Raleigh in 1985, I volunteered teaching Hindi class to children at the Hindu Society for a few years.  I also did a radio program “Visions” for Indian music and culture for a number of years that aired from 99.9 FM.   With the help of Dr. and Mrs. Sharma and a few other community persons, me and my husband drafted the constitution of Hindi Vikas Mandal with a mission to promote Hindi among our children and we got Hindi Vikas Mandal incorporated.

In 1993, while I was a librarian at the Dept. of Cultural resources, I was invited by the Dean of Foreign Languages Department to teach and set up  two Hindi courses –Beginner  and Advanced level courses .  They were offered  as  regular college courses. I had to quit teaching  at N.C. State in 1996 when I accepted the position at NCCU  in Durham.

With a mission to continue the popularity of the Hindi language among our children, it is essential that we offer it at the High School. With that purpose in mind,   I presented a proposal to the Festival attendees at Heritage India  Festival to get signatures  which I plan to submit to State Board of Education.

How is Hindi Vikas Mandal doing now?

The constitution of Hindi Vikas Mandal was to promote Hindi language.  The organization has now shifted its concentration from teaching Hindi to organizing cultural events. It is a wonderful idea to celebrate India’s independence, but we should also continue promoting Hindi.  I highly appreciate that Mrs. Saroj Sharma  and Dr. Sudha Dhingra organize Hindi Kavi Sammelan which is thoroughly enjoyed by the community .  We must continue to promote Hindi among our children – a Hindi Camp will certainly be an excellent source of inspiration for children to get involved thru fun activities. Perhaps  Hindi  Vikas  Mandal could collaborate with Heritage India Association in holding such camps.

What made you start Heritage India Association?

Heritage India Association owes its origin  to the interests expressed by Indian Americans of the Triangle area in preserving and presenting their cultural heritage. The focus is on showcasing Indian culture from all parts of India under one umbrella for  promoting awareness to community at-large.  We have adopted three main programs - Heritage Festival, Children’s day and Mahatma Gandhi Jayanthi.   These programs are not celebrated by any other organization.

I served as Gandhi Statue project chair and worked with Dr.   Arvind Shah, who initiated and managed the Project.  Harsha Shah joined me later as co-chair. And together we did fund-raising and generated a great interest and response from Indian Americans.  The Gandhi statue was installed at the EXPLORIS Museum.   It was suggested by  Dr. Arvind Shah that we celebrate Gandhi Jayanti under the auspices of the Heritage India Association.  Expenses are financed by the Gandhi statue funds through Indian American Forum For Political Education.

As a result of my request and written proposal “ First Children’s Day” was celebrated at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh in 2007.  The Museum gave the Hall without any rental fee.   There Celebration was well-attended.  In 2008,   Mrs. Sharma requested that we should celebrate it with Hindu Society and asked me to write a proposal, which was submitted by me and was  approved by the 2008 HSNC Board and we moved the Children’s Day celebration from the Museum to the Hindu Society for co-sponsorship and celebrate in the HSNC Cultural Hall.  Accordingly, we presented the Second Children’s Day in collaboration with Hindu Society.  All the profit was given to Hindu Society for helping the Society to raise funds for the Children’s Park.

Please mention some of the other distinctive  activities Heritage India Association presents?

Heritage India presents “Recognition and Honor Ceremony ”  during the Heritage Festival and Children’s Day .  This ceremony aims at recognizing talents and community ambassadors from accomplished Indian Americans.  It celebrates from performing arts to visual artists, from authors to scientists and from academicians to Community ambassadors.  We nominate the  deserving  candidate and confer the Heritage Award / Honor each year keeping in with  Indian  tradition by putting  a shawl/scarf around their shoulder and printing a biographical sketch in the special brochure.

Also, we have started a Heritage India Cooking Club.  We meet every 2^nd Sunday from 11-2 p.m. at the house of one of the members of the executive committee.  We keep the menu vegetarian, simple and nutritious for food demonstration and lunch.

What are the funding sources for Heritage India Association?

We have not asked for personal donations.  We can perhaps do fund-raising for meeting the expenses later when people can donate and get tax exemption.    The funds for the rental venue mainly come from the ticket sale at the events, other expenses are born by the working Committee members.  In 2004 when we invited outside talent and also rented NCSU Hall, that we needed to pay to Hindu Society 2,000 dollars.  Raleigh Gastroenterology, Inc. came to our rescue and paid the sum to Hindu Society.

However, this year due to the downturn in national economy, we have reduced ticket prices for Heritage Festival.  This year the admission remained low and we, festival committee members have to pitch in.

What do you want to do next?

I would like to take Heritage Idea forward and promote Hindi.  I would like to do an event for South Asian Heritage Gala.  Create a platform to showcase the culture from Asian countries.  My plan is to call each Indian organization and have their full participation and support. Together we can make a difference by  strengthening   cultural connections with  our children.

As for my personal beliefs, I believe that even one dedicated person can bring about change.   For example, Dr G.D. Sharma and Mrs. Saroj Sharma is one couple that began Hindu Society.  Now the whole community is with them and we have Hindu Society as a premier organization for all of us.  I am very sure that firm devotion, hard work and passion to achieve and to be successful certainly paves the path to success.  I see a very bright future for Heritage India Association of North Carolina where all the organizations will participate and be proud of our culture.  I believe in presenting quality programs and have representation from all regions of India.

Yash Garg lives with her husband Dr. Harish Chander in Raleigh,  enjoys writing in Hindi and English languages,   teaching Hindi, Oil painting, cooking Indian specialties,  showcasing  Indian fashions,  working with children, coordinating cultural programs,   walking and playing with her Golden retriever.

Recent Publications

Contributes regularly to the columns of Saathee magazine – see review article for heritage India Festival in May issue of the magazine.  Written  proposals for initiating new programs like Children’s Day and Gandhi Jayanti.  Professionally  participates in Conferences – have presented papers on Indian culture such as “Indian family values, customs and traditions, ”  “Contribution of Ramayana to the Indian culture.”    Some of the full-length  chapters published in the books are as follows:

• Garg, Y. (2006).  Representing culture:  Indian weddings, family and festivals.  In Francisca O. Norales (Ed.).  Cross Cultural Communication: Concepts, Cases and Challenges. New York: Cambria Press.  Click here for my chapter chosen by the Publisher as Sample chapter: (http://www.cambriapress.com/samplechapters/0977356736-chapter3.pdf)
• Garg, Y. (1999) Regenerative Rituals N.C. Crossroads, 2.  North Carolina Humanities Council.  You can read the publication using google.com
• Garg, Y. (1996).  Unity in Diversity:  Indian Culture and Customs.  In Customs and Cultures of the World. Greensboro, N. C.:  M.S. Publications.