CHICAGO: The Indian Community of Niles Township celebrated the Diwali-Navratri-Garba festival at the “Kathy Hall”, Golf Maine Park Dist in Niles, a north west suburb of Chicago, on Sunday, October 29 with lot of zeal and zest.
The executive team headed by Rohit Joshi, a community activist, along with a good number of Indian community members enjoyed this great Diwali gathering. Community organizations and leaders like United Senior Pariwar, Baldevbhai Patel, Amar Upadhyay, Dr. Hemali Shah, Chintal Mehta, Jagdish Patel, Sunil Shah and ethnic media representatives also participated in the celebration.
Rohit Joshi welcomed everybody and wished Happy Diwali and New Year and requested the guests to join in the Deep Prajvalan ceremony. The Deep Prajvalan ceremony was followed by sumptuous dinner.
Music and songs highlighted the near three-hour event. Local artists, singer Jitendra Bulsara and singer Douce Pandya energized the crowd to do Garba and Dandiya Raas till the end of the program. With Yash Seth as DJ, it was a great houseful program.
The executive board consists of Rohit Joshi, President, Vinod Patel, Vice President, J. K. Trivedi, Jt. Secretary, Manibala Jain, Treasurer and Bhavil Patel, Jt. Treasurer. Former President is Usha Kamaria and members of the Advisory Board are Dr Bharat Barai, Pramod Shah, Chintal Mehta, Iftekhar Shareef, Chirag Patel, Mayur Ganger, Yashwant Amin and United Senior Pariwar.
The Indian Community of Niles Township was originally the Indian Community of Skokie and was established in 1988 by a group of Indian Americans living in Skokie, to commemorate and celebrate festivals, traditions and culture of India.
Subsequently, by popular demand, steady growth of Indians settling in Skokie and its surrounding suburbs and the emergence of a large number of Indian American households in Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, the name was changed to Indian Community of Niles Township.
ICNT successfully organizes and celebrates festivals like the Republic Day of India, Independence Day of India, Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti, Skokie Festival of cultures and participates in the 4th of July Independence Day parade and also supports events organized by the Village of Skokie, Consulate General of India, and other social, academic, religious organizations.
Surendra Ullal
