By Jeff Vasishta

Diwali Lights. Photo via Flickr/Swami Stream.

Diwali season is upon us again. It is the Indian fall festival of lights, occurring this year on November 13th-17th. Many New Yorkers familiar with Yom Kippur, Columbus Day or Martin Luther King Day are still in the dark about Diwali and its significance, despite it being granted a suspended parking rules day in 2005. Although New York based-Indians contribute a vital and visible component to the Big Apple’s economy, it is perhaps their lack of mainstream celebrity status which has resulted in many NYC residents’ ignorance when it come to Diwali. Regardless of the relatively recent fame of Padma Lakshmi, Freeda Pinto, Meera Nair, Mindy Kaling and others, they hardly stack up in name recognition to Jay-Z, J-Lo, Brad, Angelina and their ilk. Without Diwali celebrations featured in the pages of of US Weekly and on TV shows like Extra, it would barely occupy its fringe position in the American consciousness.

This has frustrated me since I first moved to New York from London in 1993, as a music journalist writing predominantly about R&B. There were no other Indians in my profession. In England, where the Indian populous is far more established than in the U.S. (the Indian take-out restaurant in the UK is more popular than McDonalds), Diwali is widely recognized and accepted, particularly in cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester. My family celebrated Diwali with other local Indians in community halls specially rented for the occasion. London hosts an annual Diwali festival in Trafalgar Square. It’s a big deal in a country where British Indians enjoy a far more visible role in the nation’s mainstream culture than they do in New York.

The Bollywood film industry revels in its rabid celebrity culture. In the U.S., however, famous homegrown Indians are thin on the ground. In 2009, British Indian pop singer Jay Sean was the first Indian to top the Billboard charts with the song “Down”. He hasn’t been able to capitalize on that success and become a widely recognized name. It’s not inconceivable that one day that there may be an Indian Katy Perry, Derek Jeter or Matt Damon, but it may not happen anytime soon. The three most direct paths to celebrity status – sports, music and film – are hardly championed by hard working Indian immigrants in the U.S., who, understandably, mostly promote academic success over anything else.

India’s Asian partner in the emergent global economy and American geekdom, China, has by far surpassed it in sports. First former NY Knick Jeremy Lin became a bonafide Chinese American basketball star and then China cemented their place as a world sporting power at the London Olympics. “Our mediocrity is there for all to see” read the headline in Delhi’s Mail Today during the games. By any measure, their total of one silver and three bronze medals from a nation of 1.2 billion people was a paltry showing and highlighted just how far the country has to go to compete with other nations a fraction of their size.

India achieved one notable celebrity first this year that resonated in certain quarters of the U.S. entertainment industry. Bollywood actress Sherlyn Chopra became the first Indian to appear nude in Playboy. But alas, organizers were not in a rush to book her to turn on the lights at the South Street Seaport Diwali Festival.

Until the Indian community has iconic pop culture figures recognized by all Americans, to draw attention to their traditions, Diwali will be nothing more than an excuse for New Yorkers not to have to get up in the morning and move their cars.

All interviews by Angela Barbuti

Dylan Lauren, owner of Dylan’s Candy Store

What’s your favorite thing about New York in the summer?
The colorful flowers along Park Avenue and in Central Park and the happy vibe when seeing New Yorkers in bright candy colors on the street.

What’s your favorite summertime activity?
Going to the Hamptons and biking there. Or having a picnic outdoors in Central Park.

Your best and worst summer memory?
Attending concerts on the Great Lawn or jogging around the Great Lawn as late as 8:45 p.m., as the sun is still out and the park is safe and packed!
The worst is walking to work or taking a subway on 100-degree days and knowing I’m going to have to take two showers to get the sweat off, then going into an air-conditioned room.

Are you a mountains or beach person?
Both. I love to hike and go to Colorado. But more often, like every weekend, I run along a vast ocean on a long beach like Montauk—my fave.

Favorite summertime restaurant?
Barronda downtown on West Broadway between Broome and Spring because of its beautiful outdoor garden. Also, Cipriani downtown, on the same block.

Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of ‘The View,’
Oscar winner, comedian

What’s your favorite thing about New York in the summer?
New York is like a party—all kinds of music everywhere, the smells of street fairs and carnival food wafting through the city, open hydrants offering a way to cool off.

What’s your favorite summertime activity?
Coney Island, Atlantic City, Central Park, Bryant Park

Are you a mountain or a beach person?
I’m both.

Favorite summertime restaurant?
Anywhere there is a street fair with Italian sausage and cotton candy!

Michael Ian Black, comedian, actor,

author, gadfly, man about town

What’s your favorite thing about New York in the summer?
I love how many New Yorkers leave. They disappear for beaches, where they will sunburn surrounded by their friends and grouse about how much they hate the beach.

What’s your favorite summertime activity?
Hammocking, my made-up verb for falling asleep in a hammock with a book splayed on my chest.

Your best and worst summer memory?
Best New York summer memory: getting dropped off at NYU my first day of college in August, 1988. It seemed to me like my life was beginning on that day.
Worst New York summer memory: Getting caught shoplifting at Tower Records the summer after my sophomore year. People like me are the reason Tower went out of business (back then it was shoplifting—now it’s called pirating).

Are you a mountain or a beach person?
Definitely mountains, minus the poison ivy and the bears. Actually, I like bears. So just minus the poison ivy.

Favorite summertime restaurant?
In New York, I will always have a soft spot for eating outside at Maryann’s on 16th Street and Eighth Avenue. It’s heavy Mexican food, not at all good for summer eating, but I have so many fond memories of stuffing myself with cheap tacos and enchiladas that, no matter the season, it will always hold a warm spot in my heart.