Gujarat Samaj Chicago celebrates Deepawali, the Festival of Deeva

Schaumburg, IL: Gujarati Samaj Chicago organized a Diwali gala dinner and musical evening Friday, October 21 2011, at India House restaurant located in Schaumburg, Illinois. The evening was attended by about 612 guests.

The evening started with social hour with many choices of delicious tasteful appetizers and soft drinks to neutralize sting of spicy dishes. MC for the occasion was the ever green Bharti Desai, who kept the crowd fluid, attentive, and involved for total length of the program. Deeva lighting ceremony was performed by President Suryakant Patel and his wife, Urvashi.

Addressing the gathering, current President Suryakant Patel wished everyone a Happy Diwali and Happy New Year! He said, “Diwali marks the attainment of moksha or nirvana and to rejoice conquering of evil Ravan by Lord Ram. Let us thank, pray, and celebrate for all the blessing by supreme Bhagavan.” He outlined objectives of the Samaj that “We are glad to be serving the Chicago Metropolitan area for many years. Our goals are to encourage people to explore and learn about rich Gujarati culture. Together let us keep this light lit for life and joy for many years to come.” Suryakant Patel told Mr. Suresh Bodiwala and Dr. Chandrakant Modi that he promised the attendees to look forward to having many more planned successful events in the coming year. He thanked the executive committee and board members (listed below) for working tirelessly to fulfill the function of Gujarati Samaj. He pleaded with the audience to work as a volunteer to serve the Gujarati Samaj. The speech concluded with thanking the event’s sponsors.

Gopali Sheth, General Secretary outlined successful past events organized by Gujarati Samaj like Bowling, Summer Picnic, Mix and Mingle networking event, Navratri Garba in which the Samaj actively participated and enjoyed Garba filled with energy, masti, colorful dresses, and beautiful music. She also reached out to the audience for youth participation. She said, “The Youth are the future generation and we need to bring the Gujarati culture and tradition to our future generation; therefore I would like to encourage those that have children to get their children involved in the future Gujarati Samaj Chicago events.”

There was an attractive cultural program presented by Manpasand and Mumbai Masti who provided the live music. The Tarana Dance Group provided the beautiful colorful dances. Avani Shah, Cultural Secretary, was the MC for the colorful dances. Each dancer was given beautiful flowers as appreciation by the youth board members.

Manish Pandya, Joint Cultural Secretary, described Diwali. He said, “In the dark night of the new moon comes the glow of burning diyas. Among the stars, sparkle the bright fireworks. The night’s loneliness is broken by joyful laughter. The soft breeze brings the sweet smell of deeps and incense. In the bitter cold is the sweetness of sweets. In the colourless night there are colourful rangolies. This is Deepavali, also known as Diwali.”

The event was concluded with authentic Gujarati dishes. The musical evening kicked off by Mumbai Masti Manpasand group with their orchestra. The male singer started with all-time great song “Pukarta chala hu main gali gali bahar ki” of film Mere Sanam originally sung by all-time great singer of Indian cinema the late Mohammed Rafi. The orchestra performed late into the night mesmerizing the crowd with melodious Bollywood hits.

Executive Committee for 2011 to 2012 are Suryakant Patel (President), Kamlesh Shah (Vice President), Gopali Sheth (General Secretary), Jayesh Parikh (Joint Secretary), Deepen Modi (Treasurer), Devang Desai (Joint Treasurer), Avani Shah (Cultural Secretary), Manish Pandya (Joint Cultural Secretary) and Board Members are Amit Desai, Ashok Shah, Nishant Modi, Bhavesh Shah, Bhupendra Bhatt, Vibha Dave, Narendra Patel and Past President Mukesh Shah

2011 Diwali party sponsors are Money Dart (Prabhakar Patel), Med Star (Narendra Patel), Sankalp Restaurant (Alap Patel), Met Life (Dr. Irving Birnbaum), New Life Medical Center (Dr. Manish Pandya), D’s Creations (Mr. Monti S: Chirag Patel), Holiday Inn (Maya Patel), Bombay Chopsticks India House (Ravi), Manpasand (Bhavna Modi) and Vonage (Inamdar)

Bharti Desai is one of the best gifted Garba singers in the Chicago Metropolitan area. People have coined her to have the nickname of “Garba Queen” who has a voice of a “Koyal.” She has performed over 400-500 shows across the nation. She works with a great group of talented musicians. She also performs Bollywood songs as well. Bharti is very involved in the Indian-American community as a coordinator MC and Emcee for various cultural events. For bookings and more information, please visit www.BhartiDesai.com

Information About Gujarati Samaj Chicago (GSC):
Gujarati Samaj Chicago is glad to be serving the Chicago Metropolitan area. The goals of GSC are to encourage people to preserve, promote, explore and learn about Gujarati culture, literacy, social and academic activities. GSC is one of the oldest organizations who provides a community to find joy in encouraging, promoting, and celebrating the Gujarati culture, especially among 2nd and 3rd generation Gujaratis here. The main activities include but are not limited to the following: Bowling, Summer Picnic, Navratri Garba Raas event, and the Diwali Gala Party. Our Youth Program includes activities that provide networking, fun, and social ‘gettogether and know’ opportunities such as the Mix and Mingle, outdoor activities, and various other events yet to come. For further detail information visit our website (http://gujaratisamajchicago.com/index.html) and facebook to learn more about the Gujarati Samaj Chicago, a non-profit organization. If you need to contact us, you can do so by phone (630-455-0280), email ([email protected]), or conventional mail (Gujarati Samaj Chicago, 6816 Fieldstone Drive, Burr Ridge, IL 60527), said General Secretary, Gopali Sheth to Suresh Bodiwala and Dr. Modi, both representing Asian Media USA.

Photographs and Press release by: Asian Media USA

Suresh Bodiwala
Chairman
Asian Media USA
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