EDISON: Senior citizens made merry at the three-day event organized by the Indo American Seniors Organization of New Jersey (IASONJ) as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations at the Royal Albert’s Palace here from September 27-29. The event was aptly named as `Anandutsav’. This was the first ever event for senior citizens of this magnitude held anywhere in the USA.
They had everything they could ask for. There was music, dance, entertainment, educational seminars, excellent food and lots to talk about their lifestyle, their problems and issues during the three days that they stayed together and enjoyed.
It must be said to the credit to the President of IASONJ, Raman Shah to have put together a program of this magnitude which went about flawlessly. It was a thoughtfully carved out event and everyone had something to take back as fond remembrance from the event.
Probably for the first time, Jain Muni Acharya Lokesh Muniji graced the event on the opening day and blessed the event. He called upon the audience to preach peace, happiness and brotherhood amongst humanity.
The chairman of the organization, Piyush Patel in his address called upon the seniors to help in keeping our tradition and culture intact. He said it was time for all of us to unite and share our happiness and joy.
Mafat Patel, leading businessman and founder of Patel Cash and Carry chain of Indian grocery stores across United States, was one of the main sponsors of the event. He too was felicitated by the organizers. He called upon the audience to keep supporting the work he was doing.
Indian and American elected officials, including Edison Mayor Toni Ricigliano, remained present as a mark of solidarity for the Indian community and the seniors in particular.
The event will go down memory lane for a number of reasons. It was extremely well executed, well organized and fun-filled. The seniors enjoyed to the fullest extent and according to Raman Shah, president of IASONJ, “my aim to make the seniors happy has been fulfilled and I have achieved my goal”. Part of the credit for the success of this event also goes to Rajesh and Usha Shah and also Mukesh Kashiwala and the entire team of IASONJ who worked tirelessly to ensure that there were no glitches during and after the event at the Royal Albert’s Palace.
As part of giving back to the seniors from whom we have learnt so much and took inspiration, the event also felicitated senior citizens over the age of 75 as part of their Vadil Vandana program. The three-day event also held educational seminars on healthcare, retirement planning, social security, long term care, religious discourses and travel, besides lots of entertainment.
Students of the Indianica Dance Academy performed dance numbers including one on `Sare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara’ and other one a traditional Garba based on famous Gujarati folk songs. Their performances were well appreciated by the audience.
Another performance was an evening with Suma Nair, the voice of legendary Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar. Incidentally September 28 was also the birthday of Lataji and Suma made the most of it by rendering some of the memorable numbers sung by Lata during her long Bollywood career.
The organizers had also made provision for a musical night with Barba and Party which had come all the way from India for their entertainment, besides an evening with well-known singer Rex D’Souza. Natwer Thakkar of 999 Entertainment played a key role in the success of the musical events presented by IASONJ.
IASONJ has over 3300 members in New Jersey alone. The organization made a humble beginning with just 29 members in 2003 and has now turned into a giant organization and is presently one of the most influential seniors group in the United States. It aims to provide various benefits and services to its members and at the same time tries to uphold Indian values and culture.
The organization has held its annual picnic, health camps which have benefited many of the members, and also various cultural programs to help them overcome the boredom in their life. One of the pet projects, Ramanbhai, president IASONJ, mentioned is to organize foreign tours for the seniors which gives them the benefit of seeing the world. Their special needs are looked after while they enjoy the tourist’s spots around the world. According to Ramanbhai “my next project is to construct a big building cum office for the senior citizens and I have already started work on it”.
Sudhir Vyas
