st Costume Contest category in the ninth annual Multicultural Halloween event held at Wright State University Dayton, Ohio. He wore a long jacket called Achkan, and had a Sikh symbol, the Khanda decorating his turban. He proved that Sikhs can participate and win such events while maintaining their identity as Sabat Soorat Sikhs.
The event gave people an opportunity to experience the diversity of students and the community by learning about fall celebrations from around the world. The celebration was a combination of the traditional Halloween customs of North America and other fall holiday festivities from around the globe. These include the Native American Fall Harvest, African American “Kwanzaa”, the Indian “Diwali”, the Chinese and Vietnamese “Mid-Autumn Festival”, “Chusok”, the Korean Thanksgiving, the Japanese “Bon” holiday, the Nigerian “Yam Festival” and the Mexican “Day of the Dead”. It was a collaborative effort of several Wright State student organizations, including the Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center.
There was something for everyone’s taste. There were free ethnic foods from around the world including Indian food by Jeet India Restaurant, a costume contest featuring children and adults, cultural displays, face painting, and balloon sculptures. The special feature of this collective multicultural celebration was a Liang Acrobatic and Comedy show featuring Liang Patti, a Chinese acrobat, who performed the 2000 year old art form of plate spinning. Liang was a gold winner in the international acrobatic competition and she recently performed on the hit TV show America’s Got Talent.
Members of Sikh community actively participated in the celebration. Young Sikh children, 20 months old Maanit Singh Gumtala, 9 year old Ravjot Kaur and her 12 year old brother, Manpreet Singh, dressed as Sikh princess and prince, showed off their colorful and attractive costumes in the Children’s Costume contest. Young Maanit Singh, who walked very proudly on the stage supporting his small Turban and dressed in his traditional Sherwani, won the hearts of many in the audience. Ravjot Kaur did not lag behind the boys. Exuding self-confidence, she took the mike when the audience was asked about the Indian Diwali and explained its significance for the Sikhs as Bandi Chod Diwas. This talented young Sikh girl from Springfield, OH, was not shy to take up Liang’s challenge to the audience, after she had played with a record 25 hula hoops. She not only competed but won the contest by playing with 5 hula hoops at a time!
Sameep Singh Gumtala remarked that “Manpreet has demonstrated to everyone, including the Sikh Youth in Punjab, that Sikhs can look stylish and handsome while keeping their identity”. He believes that Manpreet has the looks and style to be a potential future participant in the annual Mr. Singh International Contest held in Amritsar.
Slide show Below ↓