Gandhi Samaj Committee Members : Manoj Bharucha, Romal Gandhi, Alankar Modi, Jayesh Pastakia, Ketan Baman, Vaishali Bhagat, Reshma Gandhi, Bhumika Gandhi, Tejal Modi.
CHICAGO: It was one of four major events that Gandhi Samaj of Chicago has been holding for the past two and half decades every year – the Diwali Celebration. This year it was on a grand scale with close to 400 plus members and guests attending nearly three hours of entertainment, fun and food at Taft High School auditorium north side of Chicago last week.
As put by Raj Bharucha, one of the past office bearers of the Samaj, the celebrations this year were meticulously organized and there was never a dull moment during the three hours that the event lasted. Romal Gandhi, the Samaj president, said that his organization set up in 1984 still holds strong in unifying the people South of Gujarat extending from Surat to Vapi. “Our community has grown throughout the years and now comprises over 650 community members. As a community we get together for a summer picnic and celebrate Navratri and Diwali,” he said
Tejal Modi, general secretary said that she was into the organization as a participant of a Diwali entertainment program in the past and that she realized how important it is to have this type of program and this type of organization to create awareness among the new generation of Indian Americans about the richness of our religion and culture. “I grew up in Connecticut; however I still remember traveling with my family to Chicago to be a part of the Diwali Show and putting on a performance with my brother on stage for our community. That is the power of our Samaj. Now that I live here, I take an active role in our Samaj to spread the tradition, culture and enthusiasm amongst our next generation.”
This year’s Chief Guest was Dr. Pinakin Attawala. He is the Director of medical affairs at Merck Pharmaceuticals and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his address, Attawala underlined the need to be proud of our culture and working together as Indians erasing the narrower affiliations of caste, language or religion. He talked about the prominent role played by Indian Americans in many walks of life here and hoped that in the not too distant future, an Indian American would be the President of the country.
Romel Gandhi earlier welcomed the guests and half a dozen emcees came on the stage in turn and introduced artists and various programs that were staged with meticulous care and success. Rahul Gandhi and Tejal Gandhi were outstanding as emcees. The entire program was staged by local artists -children young ones and adults.
A few items were so eye catching that many in the audience were pleasantly surprised at the hidden talents that the Samaj members have. One such item was fifteen minutes of outstanding performance in both classical and Bhangra song items by Trisha Modi, Hiteshri Patel and Susan Sunny. For their outstanding performances in both classical and Bhangra song item, an on the spot monetary award was presented to them. Children too performed well and not to be out done a classical Indian dance item too enthralled the audience. There were two singers singing Bollywood tunes so well that many called “Once More.’
Award and recognition certificates were presented to those helping Samaj achieve higher levels. Dinesh Gandhi, a prominent banker and a former Samaj president gave Educational Achievement awards to Kalpesh Guard, Akshi Gandhi, Shetal Gandhi, Ankur Bhagat and Nilay Ghayal. Certificate of Achievement Award was presented to Vivek Gandhi in recognition of his outstanding achievement in the Illinois Standards Achievement Test – Scoring in the Top One Percent in Math in the Nation.
Others recipients were Past Presidents Award – Kaushik Mehta, President’s Award – Jayantibhai Gheewala, Community Award – Kalpesh Gandhi.
Certificate of Recognition was presented to Avani Gandhi for winning the 2010 Little Miss Beach Park Pageant. Participants Awards and trophies were given to all participants of the Diwali show Other programs in the Diwali show included traditional Garba by adults, melodious songs by Rita Modi, Chetan Trivedi and Janak Modi, acting of Rajesh Khanna by Pravinbhai Gandhi, modern dance by Vivek and Avani Gandhi. melody, solo performances by Jalak Modi, Sara Mody, National Anthems sung by Daksh Guard and Avani Gandhi, American songs performed by Niti Gheewala and Paul Hala.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
