White House Band Plays Bhajan at Biden’s Diwali Bash, Grammy Winner Reacts

On By Littum

The White House military band played the devotional song “Om Jai Jagdish Hare” during Diwali celebrations at the official residence of US President Joe Biden. The video, shared by International Monetary Fund (IMF) First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath, shows four members of the band playing the song on piano, violin, cello and drums.

“Wonderful to hear the White House military band play Om Jai Jagdeesh Hare for Diwali. Happy Diwali,” Ms Gopinath wrote.

The video garnered over 4,000 likes and lots of praise from Indians.

Indian-American composer and three-time Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej said the rendition of the song was “nicely done”.

“Great arrangement and the violinist did all the glissandos quite well,” he said.

Mr. Biden hosted a Diwali celebration at the White House on Monday. The event was reportedly attended by more than 600 Indian Americans, including members of Congress, government officials and business leaders, from across the country. Indian-origin American astronaut Sunita Williams, who is currently stuck on the International Space Station, also attended the event through a video message.

However, Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden were unable to attend the celebrations due to the ongoing US presidential election campaigns.