India Celebrations

India celebrated the successes of half a century of independence with nationwide festivities Friday: Helicopters showered revelers with rose petals, choirs of children sang, and hundreds walked barefoot to the shrine of Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi. But separatist violence marred celebrations in much of the country, and India's leaders made a point of citing the problems still facing the nation: illiteracy, overpopulation and--above all--rampant, debilitating corruption.

To celebrate the anniversary of Indian independence from British rule, expatriates from the state of Gujarat in India will present an evening of Indian dance and music Saturday at Cal State Northridge. Members of the San Fernando Valley Gujarati Assn. and their families will perform dramatic and comedy sketches, classical songs similar to opera, popular dance and Bharata Natyam, a type of classical dance that dates back to 4000 BC.

To most of the 45,000 seemingly normal residents of this sleepy little town on the banks of the River Jam, Anil Sambare is nothing more than a spoilsport. To some, he is something worse. A troublemaker, some say. An idealistic radical, according to others. Some even think him a traitor to his hometown.

India celebrated the successes of half a century of independence with nationwide festivities Friday: Helicopters showered revelers with rose petals, choirs of children sang, and hundreds walked barefoot to the shrine of Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi. But separatist violence marred celebrations in much of the country, and India's leaders made a point of citing the problems still facing the nation: illiteracy, overpopulation and--above all--rampant, debilitating corruption.

Against a backdrop of escalating terrorist attacks by Sikh militants in the area, Indian police are taking unprecedented precautions to protect at least 8 million Hindu pilgrims expected to gather on the banks of the Ganges River around this holy North Indian city Monday for Ardh Kumbh Mela, a once-every-dozen-years bathing ritual. Police have flooded the region, erecting scores of metal detectors.

The air force has grounded its MIG and Mirage warplanes for next week's Republic Day military show, yielding the sky to slower fliers: the thousands of vultures who circle above New Delhi. "The mighty and costly airplanes are vulnerable to the birds and there is no way we can counter the menace," an air force captain said Tuesday. "It is too risky to fly." About 500,000 people are expected at the Jan. 26 ceremonies commemorating the day in 1950 when India became a republic.

Millions of Hindus--holy men from their Himalayan cave homes, naked recluses from forest dens and ordinary pilgrims from across India--began to converge near the confluence of two sacred rivers for ritual bathing. Police reported that two people died in the early hours of the mass bathing. It is the high point of the seven-week Kumbh Mela festival, held every 12 years, which the Guinness Book of World Records calls the largest religious gathering on Earth.

As India celebrated its birthday as a republic, three powerful bombs exploded Thursday at a holiday rally in the disputed state of Kashmir, killing at least seven people and wounding 52 others but sparing the apparent target, state Gov. K.V. Krishna Rao, police said. Rao, a retired Indian army general, was addressing a crowd of about 15,000 people at a stadium in the city of Jammu, the northern state's winter capital, when the explosions began at 10:20 a.m.

The pomp and pageantry of the Raj, the jewel in the British Empire's crown, did not die with it. Each January, they glitter anew, albeit for just a morning, when one of the world's great parades streams down the avenues of India's capital. You can tell much about a country from its public rituals. On Republic Day, the glories of India's past segue seamlessly into its modern achievements and aspirations.

Like a great river picking up speed as it surges and foams over a cataract, the mighty flow of humanity rolled down the slope: naked, ash-smeared men with braided hair and holding aloft tridents, the population of an entire village bound together with coarse rope so no one would get lost, women clutching each other's worn saris in fright. Barefoot, bare-chested farmers fresh from India's fields and paddies. Musicians in saffron robes joyfully pounding drums and blowing into shrieking flutes.

What began as a festival of spring in honor of Kama, the love god, has become an occasion in India for gaiety, horseplay, celebration and the dousing of others with colored water, the Holi holiday. The final festival of the Hindu calendar, it will be celebrated Thursday. For centuries, Holi was one of the leveling influences in India's scrupulously stratified society: Rich and poor, high caste and low caste, men and women and even Muslims and Christians take part.

Like a great river picking up speed as it surges and foams over a cataract, the mighty flow of humanity rolled down the slope: naked, ash-smeared men with braided hair and holding aloft tridents, the population of an entire village bound together with coarse rope so no one would get lost, women clutching each other's worn saris in fright. Barefoot, bare-chested farmers fresh from India's fields and paddies. Musicians in saffron robes joyfully pounding drums and blowing into shrieking flutes.

The pomp and pageantry of the Raj, the jewel in the British Empire's crown, did not die with it. Each January, they glitter anew, albeit for just a morning, when one of the world's great parades streams down the avenues of India's capital. You can tell much about a country from its public rituals. On Republic Day, the glories of India's past segue seamlessly into its modern achievements and aspirations.

As India celebrated its birthday as a republic, three powerful bombs exploded Thursday at a holiday rally in the disputed state of Kashmir, killing at least seven people and wounding 52 others but sparing the apparent target, state Gov. K.V. Krishna Rao, police said. Rao, a retired Indian army general, was addressing a crowd of about 15,000 people at a stadium in the city of Jammu, the northern state's winter capital, when the explosions began at 10:20 a.m.

On Thursday, on the broad avenue called Rajpath, the Republic Day parade and celebrations mark the 45th anniversary of India's constitution, which proclaimed it a sovereign, democratic republic. With the nation's titular president, Shankar Dayal Sharma, taking the salutes, members of India's army, navy, air force and other national services will march briskly past.

An explosion in a fireworks shop during a national holiday celebration Sunday started a fire that killed at least 25 people and injured 100, news reports said. The explosion in the eastern city of Jaria occurred as millions of Hindus across India celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights.

Sikh extremists opened fire with automatic rifles on a crowd of villagers celebrating a religious festival in Punjab state, killing at least 32 people and wounding 40 others, police said early today. The attack was the bloodiest staged by Sikhs fighting for an independent state in northern India since last July, when 66 people were killed in attacks on two buses in neighboring Haryana state. More than 300 people have been slain this year in separatist violence.

To celebrate the anniversary of Indian independence from British rule, expatriates from the state of Gujarat in India will present an evening of Indian dance and music Saturday at Cal State Northridge. Members of the San Fernando Valley Gujarati Assn. and their families will perform dramatic and comedy sketches, classical songs similar to opera, popular dance and Bharata Natyam, a type of classical dance that dates back to 4000 BC.

Against a backdrop of escalating terrorist attacks by Sikh militants in the area, Indian police are taking unprecedented precautions to protect at least 8 million Hindu pilgrims expected to gather on the banks of the Ganges River around this holy North Indian city Monday for Ardh Kumbh Mela, a once-every-dozen-years bathing ritual. Police have flooded the region, erecting scores of metal detectors.

To most of the 45,000 seemingly normal residents of this sleepy little town on the banks of the River Jam, Anil Sambare is nothing more than a spoilsport. To some, he is something worse. A troublemaker, some say. An idealistic radical, according to others. Some even think him a traitor to his hometown.