On Saturday, October 29th 2011, IANH held its Annual Diwali Festival. Renowned dance and music teachers Jasmine Shah, Neha Parikh, Sujatha Meyyapan, Sheetal Dwaraka, Amulya Deepak, Shital Botadra, Jyoti Sharma, and Sumana Sinha graced this event. As per tradition, this grand event included delicious Indian food and melodious music and dance performances. The musical items performed in the show ranged from bhajans to Hindustani Classical Vocals, while the dance pieces ranged from classical Bharatanatyam performances to the ever-popular Bollywood Dances.

The evening began with welcoming remarks by Mr. Prithvi Kumar, the President of IANH. The masters of ceremonies for the event were Ms. Jharna Madan and Neelesh Shah, who kept the audience laughing and entertained throughout the event. The Table Tennis Tournament Trophy Distribution was also held at the IANH Diwali Festival. The top three winners from both age divisions in IANH’s annual Table Tennis Tournament, which was held on September 17th this year, filed onto the stage and were awarded small golden trophies for their achievements.

The classical dance performances were Gopala Krishna, performed in Marathi style, Hamsadhwani Tarani, performed in Kathak style, and Kalinga Narthanam. “Oye Oye” and “Kehna Hi Kya” were two of the numerous popular Bollywood songs danced to. One of the last performances was Bollywood Zumba, a salsa-style fusion dance. The Zumba Desi Girls performed this dance in the flowy, black-and-red dresses customary of Spanish Salsa Dance. The melodious vocal renditions ranged from Swagatam, by the SaReGa Academy, to Tum Hi Ho Mata and Pita Tum Hi Ho by the Manchanda family.

Representatives of the sponsors for this event, Ameriprise Financial and Prudential Insurance Company of America, made announcements. Jai Dev, the representative from the gold sponsor for the event, Ameriprise Financial, caught the audience’s attention with a musical piece on the bansuri, a Hindustani musical instrument that resembles the flute. He concluded his announcement with a Sanskrit mantra. The grand sponsor, Prudential Insurance Company of America, also had a representative speak. Finally, Ms. Chandana Karthik, the Chair of the Cultural Committee, gave a vote of thanks and recognition of the volunteers. The event closed with the Indian and American National Anthems.

At the end of the program, the “Social Hour” was held in the cafeteria, where everyone enjoyed traditional Indian food, sold by Café India, Food and Fashion of India, and Gurnam Catering. The variety of food included American dishes, such as cheese pasta and cookies, as well as traditional Indian dishes such as samosas, jelebi, mirchi, bale, carrot alwa, and pav bhaji.

Thanks to all of the participants, audience members, and numerous volunteers who worked tirelessly behind-the-scenes to help make this grand cultural event a huge success!

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