Manhattan is a busy place and there are a lot of shows in town. The 62nd session of the United National General Assembly (UNGA) is currently on, for instance. But for colour and exuberance, the Incredible India@60, which pitches up its tent in the very core of Big Apple on Sunday, will be hard to beat.

At 5.30 pm (Eastern), External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate this three-day multi-event extravaganza at the Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. But hours before this, Manhattanites would have already got to see Sudarshan Patnaik’s sand replica of the Taj Mahal at the Port Authority; visited Steve McCurry’s photo exhibition on India; watched a giddying plethora of dances from every corner of India; shaken a leg with Bollywood, caught up with Sivamani’s percussion at Bryant Park and taken a peek at offerings from Indian fashion designers. But if they want to get a taste of India, courtesy this event, they will have to wait until Monday, when sugar and spice takes a bow at South Street Seaport. “We planned it as a complete experience of an eternal, yet contemporary, India.

Not the India of stereotypes but a country projected to be one of the three major economic powers in 2020,” Sanjay Kothari, Additional Director-General, told The Sunday Express.

The fact that the event is taking place against the UNGA backdrop is no coincidence. “The idea was also to catch the eye of the world with the General Assembly in session,” explained Kothari. But this gigantic branding exercise to coincide with 60 years of independence, was not without its share of uncertainties. For one, the organisers had hoped that the event would ride on the euphoria of a neatly concluded Indo-US nuclear deal. But with the Government going slow on that front, this was not to be. Then came the Ram Sethu controversy, which put the participation of Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni in doubt. The show had to go on of course, even if it meant organising US visas for over 130 people within a few days.

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