Informal atmosphere at the Pioneer Day parade in Salt Lake City

By Rajiv Shah

Currently in Salt Lake City, which hosted Winter Olympics 2002, and will again host them in 2034, it quite a spectacle to watch the Pioneer Day parade just about half a mile from where we currently live.

The parade marks the foundation day of Utah State of the US, and the city happens to be its capital.

It was very informal, with people sitting on folding chairs, squatting on ground, many of them underneath the small makeshift canopies they had installed -- all on two sides of the road along a small park and the huge library on the side.

There was virtually no security, I could see no cops pushing people to one or the other side, though there was traffic police at a crossroad nearby to ensure people crossed the road without any difficulty, even as allowing smooth movement of the very has running trams (they call them metro).

Some people -- mostly families with children -- who perhaps had come from other areas of the State had put up their rents in the garden, and were living in there from the previous night. We stood one the other side along the footpath, clicking photographs on our mobile phone.

Ironically, I couldn't spot any Indian looking person watching the parade. There were, however, four Sardarjis who were distributing mineral water bottles, telling people, "Hydrate yourself..." This despite the fact that one can spot Indians on streets, though they are still very few of them in the city.

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