Leander Paes is also expected at parade in Manhattan on August 17th.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: Billionaire Vivek Ranadive, the leader of the owner group of the Sacramento Kings – the first Indian American owner in NBA history, and the founder and CEO of TIBCO, a real-time computing company which is credited with digitizing Wall Street, will be the Grand Marshal at the India Day parade in Manhattan, to be held on August 17th. Actor Sunny Deol will be the Bollywood Grand Marshal.
The annual parade, which attracts tens of thousands of people along its parade route in the heart of Manhattan, on Madison Avenue, will celebrate this year India’s 67th Independence Day. Last year, social activist Anna Hazare and actress Vidya Balan were the Grand Marshals.
Over the years, the emphasis has been on attracting Bollywood talent for the parade, which culminates in a street fair kind of atmosphere with a stage having cultural programs by local artists and children’s groups; with desi stalls lined up around the arena, selling food and advertising products.
The parade itself, organized by the Federation of Indian Associations, has been consistently disappointing over the years with for the most part hastily made-up floats that lack in imagination, savviness and class, catered more to advertise companies and products than showcase India and its rich culture.
However, most people who attend it treat it as a family outing with dollops of Indian food to be savored on a summer day, with some tamasha thrown in. Patriotic fervor is usually high with Indian flags waved all along the parade route. The crowd comes in droves every year, and this year should be no exception. The chance to catch a glimpse of Bollywood stars, usually to be seen only on theater or television screens, is also an added attraction.
The other expected stars and performers from India at the parade are tennis player Leander Paes – who will be a much more familiar face to the people lining the streets than Ranadive, actress Raveena Tandon, singer Daler Mehndi, television stars Arjun, Kamya Panjabi, Zarine Khan and Daisy Shah.
Politicians from the Tri-state area expected to attend the parade are New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who earlier this month joined the India Caucus.
While Ranadive is being hailed as a new messiah of the NBA, with his ambitious plans to expand the sport to other countries, notably India – during the past 2013-14 season, the Kings televised over 20 live games in India, launched a website in Hindi and sent Sacramento Kings players and dancers to Mumbai, apart from having Bollywood themed dances at games in Sacramento – he is having a troubled time with the multi-billion dollar Tibco Software Inc. The company is at present on the lookout for potential suitors.
The sale talks come after months of difficulties for Tibco, and it’s fallen short of earnings expectations. Its stock price had fallen 14% this year through Tuesday’s market close, reported The Wall Street Journal. Shares bounced back on Wednesday though, after the Journal reported possible sale of the company. Tibco has a market capitalization of about $3.4 billion.
Ranadive, 55, who grew up in Mumbai, and has an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Harvard, had last year in May closed in on the Sacramento Kings deal for a record NBA franchise valuation of $534 million. Raj Bhathal, 71, founder of Tustin-based Raj Manufacturing, one of the largest swimwear companies in the nation, was also named as one of the investors in a consortium to buy a majority stake, for a reported $348 million.