CHICAGO: Over 200 guests gathered for a vibrant Valentine celebration hosted by Pratibha Jairath’s Bollywood Sargam at Ashton in Downers Grove and it was done in a romantic style with red roses at the entrance of the banquet hall,
A full moon greeted lovers and sweethearts on this special day. Saint Valentine’s Day, also known as Valentine’s Day is observed on February 14 each year. The ladies were shinning in beautiful vibrant colors and were presented a single long stem rose upon entrance while the men had formal attire to match that spirit and were also welcomed with Hershy’s kisses.
The evening started with welcome from Anoop Walia and this was followed up with singing of romantic old and new numbers by Pratibha Jairath. She was later joined by Raju Bankapur, a well-known singer who charmed the audience with some great numbers. The party was in full swing with numbers like Baby Doll, Chittiyaan Kalaiyan, Om Shanti Om and Deewangi, Gulabi Aankhen and so on.
The duets like Tum hi ho, Soch Na sake, Tere sang yaara brought lovely couples to floor for waltz dancing. This was followed by some very nice listening numbers by Dr. Manohar Jethani such as Pal Pal dil ke paas, Ek ladki ko Dekha and so on. People requested some more wonderful unique numbers from Dr. Jethani.
Jairath introduced Ashika Kalra, a young lady with desire to help schools back home by her Vidya Dan project. Anil Loomba of Home Mortgage Loan Solutions was the grand sponsor for Vidyadan project and he said he will take care of the first part of the project and students will have a great library of books. He was honored with a plaque amidst applause.
The sumptuous dinner was followed by an interesting surprise like Belly dancer with Candalbra and folks cheered her on at Mahiya mahiya song’s fusion dance. As always Ms Jairath presented an audience participation section of Bollywood dress up and fashion walk which was loved by all.
Suresh Bodiwala
