Surendra Ullal
CHICAGO: It turned out to be one of the grandest events hosted by Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force (MEATF) attracting 400 plus attendees at Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows on October 28 that prompted Congressman Danny Davis to pay handsome tributes to Dr Vijay Prabhakar and Kishore Mehta, the two front ranking activists, for their huge efforts achieving this level of success.
It was MEATF 8th Annual Congressional Gala Annual Awards which besides members, guests and recipients of awards was also graced by elected officials, Consul Generals of many countries, community leaders, educationists, hospital CEOs, professionals, businessmen and businesswoman from different walks of life from 24 different ethnic communities.
One of the highlights of this year’s Gala included the recognition of the Consul Generals of seven countries in Chicago – India, Japan, Turkey, China, Indonesia and Ukraine. Eye catching and ear pleasing entertainment program, colorful dances of various countries and singing made the event memorable. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from 8thCongressional District of Illinois and a political bigwig from India, the first female BJP Tamil Nadu President Dr. Tamilisai Soundarrajan specially took time out of their busy schedules to grace the occasion. Dr Tamilsar was bestowed the “International Rising Star” Award.
Kishore Mehta mentioned to this paper that MEATF team was hugely thankful to Congressman Danny, Davis, his wife Ms. Vera Davis, Congressman Raja Krishnamoothi, visionary leader Dr. Vijay Prabhakar, Gala Czar Dr Zenobia Sowell, Program Chair Clearance Beals, Banquet Chair Vijender Doma, Communication Chair Nagendran Sripada, Mrs Chand Nasim, Banquet co-chair, TV anchors Saurin Thakkar and Shirley Kalvakota, and all those who worked hard.
Among the Awardees were Moti Agarwal (Corporate Leader), Sunil Shah (Community Leader), Hema Shastri (Community activist), Kennedy Family, Dr Wasiullah Khan, Chancellor of East-West University, Martino Wim Tangkar, Dr. Xingwu Wang, Vishal Chhabria, Jayanta Mukharjee, Metin Serbest, Dr. Srinivas Reddy. Music Moghul award was given to Dexter Dale by Padma Mehta. Her two line rendition of a Bollywood romantic song was well appreciated by the audience.
Among the Presenters were Ms Santosh Kumar, Kevin Darshan, Gerard and Hadiya Moorer, State Rep. Melissa Conyears Ervin, Alderman Jason Ervin, Dr. Barakat, Dr. Clyde Rivers, Kevin Bailey, Shree Guruswamy and others.
