Priyanka Chopra is ‘crying tears of joy’ after New York announces Diwali as public holiday; applauds NYC State Assembly Member Jennifer Rajkumar for making it happen

Priyanka Chopra welcomed Diwali with a shoutout to Jennifer Rajkumar, the first Indian American woman to be elected Member of the New York State Assembly, who lobbied to get Diwali declared a public school holiday in New York City from 2023.

Rajkumar, whose 2020 Assembly race was endorsed by California Congressman Ro Khanna, represents certain neighbourhoods in the Queens and also chairs the sub-committee on diversity in law. New York City, incidentally, is home to more than 2,00,000 people of Indian origin.

Chopra, who is best known in the U.S. for her performance in the FBI drama series Quantico, reposted a video to her Instagram Story where Rajkumar announced the news, saying, “Today I'm proud to say our time has come. The time has come to recognize over 200,000 New Yorkers of the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain faiths who celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights." Adams added, "We are going to encourage children to learn about what is Diwali. We're going to have them start talking about what it is to celebrate the Festival of Lights, and how do you turn a light on within yourself."

Along with the video, Chopra wrote: "After all these years! My teenage self living in Queens is crying tears of joy.” She hashtagged the video with #RepresentationMatters.

Priyanka Chopra has a number of national and international projects in her kitty, including the Bollywood film Jee Le Zaraa. To be directed by Farhan Akhtar, Jee Le Zaraa also features Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt on the cast. The film is expected to go on floors next year in 2023. The actress also headlines the Russo Brothers’ much-anticipated Amazon Prime Video series, Citadel. No official date has been announced for its digital premiere yet.

Keep visiting this space over and again for more updates and reveals from the world of entertainment.