{"id":31961,"date":"2025-11-07T15:19:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T15:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/31961\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T15:19:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T15:19:15","slug":"pugsley-preparatory-academy-hosts-diwali-celebration-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/31961\/","title":{"rendered":"Pugsley Preparatory Academy hosts Diwali celebration \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"pugsley\"\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Several Pugsley Preparatory Academy students and their families took part in a special Diwali celebration held by the school, in partnership with the Bharati Foundation and Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media<\/p>\n

Pugsley Preparatory Academy<\/a> partnered with the Bharati Foundation and the Bronx Borough President\u2019s Office to host its first-ever Diwali celebration on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the school, located at 1111 Pugsley Ave. in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\"\"Attendees of the Diwali celebration at Pugsley Preparatory Academy. Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media<\/p>\n

This celebration of the Festival of Lights delivered community, culture and joy to the students and families in attendance.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media<\/p>\n

\u201cDiwali teaches us that light always rises above darkness,\u201d\u00a0 Bharati Foundation Founder Bharati Sukul Kemraj said.\u00a0\u201cSharing my culture with students and families reminds us that when we celebrate each other, we strengthen our community \u2014 one light at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The celebration kicked off with drumming from the Keeping it Classic Tassa Group<\/a>. There was plenty of Indian and Caribbean food and music. Students from Pugsley Preparatory Academy joined sisters Anjali, Karishma and Rani Latchman in Bollywood dance performances. Additionally, there were poetry readings by Helena Rampersaud and a book reading by award-winning picture book author Jyoti Rajan Gopal.<\/p>\n

\"\"Keeping it Together Tassa Group performing at the Diwali celebration. Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media<\/p>\n

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson and the Bharati Foundation, which works to connect culture, education and resources to families, recognized outstanding local leaders at the event for the impact, service and commitment to the Bronx they have displayed.<\/p>\n

Honorees included Mohanlall T. Teloki, who received the Campus Impact and Leadership Award, Police Officer Chandrapaul Temal, who was given the Distinguished Service Award, Rajeev \u201cRichie\u201d Lekhram, PA-C, who got the Health and Heritage Award, Chantal Alison-Konteh, who was honored with the Women of Impact Award, and Dr. Shivani Agarwal, MD, MPH, who was given the Excellence in Health and Research Award. Awardees were also presented with a Citation of Honor by Gibson.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mohanlall T. Teloki (second from left) speaks after winning the Campus Impact and Leadership Award. Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media
\n\"\"The Bharati Foundation Founder Bharati Sukul Kemraj (second from left) and Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson (middle) presented Police Officer Chandrapaul Temal (second from right) with the Distinguished Service Award. Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media
\n\"\"Rajeev \u201cRichie\u201d Lekhram (seventh from the left) holds the Health and Heritage Award. Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media
\n\"\"Chantal Alison-Konteh (middle) received the Women of Impact Award. Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media
\n\"\"Dr. Shivani Agarwal speaks after receiving the Excellence in Health and Research Award. Photo credit: Guyana Tapestry and Classic Creatives Media<\/p>\n

The Diwali celebration at Pugsley Preparatory Academy highlighted the power of partnerships between schools, nonprofits and community leaders when it comes to fostering cultural pride and unity within a community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough culture and participation in each other\u2019s festivals, as well as recognizing trailblazers, our borough truly shines,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several Pugsley Preparatory Academy students and their families took part in a special Diwali celebration held by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[19060,128,4247,9,24,63,19339,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-31961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bharati-foundation","tag-bronx","tag-diwali","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-pugsley-preparatory-academy","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}