Global Peace Foundation’s  Grand Diwali Mela at LA

Los Angeles, Nov. 04, 2014
D. Butani/ Dr. Sharma/Ramesh

Manorama Sharma M.D, president of Global Peace Foundation, did a wonderful job by organizing a Grand Diwali Mela at the Jain Temple Auditorium on November 1, 2014.The invitees included Mayor of Artesia Tony Lima, Dr. Prakash Narain Council Member of Cypress, Past Assembly Member Tony Mandoza, Council Member of Artesia Ali S. Taj, entrepreneurs Avadesh Agarwal, Sunil Tolani and Dr. Krishna Reddy.

The program began with a social hour where the audience and the program participants interacted with each other and had the opportunity to network, greet old friends, and make new ones.  Subsequently, the program started by a welcome speech by Dilip Butani and an introduction of the organizing committee members by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Jash Bhai Patel. The audience was entertained and enthralled with over 20 cultural performances including classical Bharat Nyatam by students of Viji Prakash, Indian folk dances, and Bollywood dances. Cultural programs were done by children as young as five, teenagers and adults throughout the program.  These performances were riveting to watch!  Bharat Darshan was done by couples showcasing the different states of India in traditional costumes, in particular Gujrat, Punjab, Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

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The main program started with a welcome speech by Dilip Butani. Butani spoke about the various activities done by the Organization. This was followed by a Bollywood Music performance by Ram Tasildar. Next, was the introduction of Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Madhu Sudan Gupta, by Ramesh Ramnani.  The emcee did a great job throughout the event with light moments. This was followed by a speech by President Dr. Manorama Sharma Gupta, highlighting the Diwali Function done for the 4th consecutive year by Global Peace Foundation Inc. and explaining the vision of this organization.  Diwali means The Festival of Lights and triumph of Good over Evil. She highlighted how this has given the opportunity for young people, adults and people from all over India coming together to celebrate the event as it is done in India.  Following this, the lighting of Diya was done by the Invited Guests and Dignitaries.  Our special guest Mr. Reggie Benjamin International pop singer, actor, celebrity host, was introduced by Dr. Manorama Sharma Gupta, who sang a few lines of a song for the audience.

All dance sequences were very good with noteworthy mention of classical dances from various parts of India including Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.  The  choreography and costume design details of the participating performing groups were amazing!  These groups came to the event from all over southern California, ranging from Simi Valley, to Los Angeles, and Irvine. The music performances done by Bollywood singers, Ram Tasildar and Bhavna Chawla, was outstanding!

 Manu Patel introduced Tony Lima, Mayor of Artesia.  Subramaniam Shanmugham and Dr. Manorama Sharma Gupta did the auction of a Lord Ganesh Metal Idol which was donated by Suresh Bhatti.  Avadesh Agarwal was the winner of the auction. Vijay Patil did the raffle ticket presentation while Jash Patel proposed vote of thanks. Other committee members who helped in organizing the program included Dinesh Shah, Siddharth Pathak, Prakash Pancholi, Harish Dhruv, Maninder Kaur, Kamlesh Chauhan, Atul Mehta, and Ramesh Bhatt. Children played a nice role distributing the raffle tickets for prices donated by Suresh Bhatti and Sidhart Pathak. The audience had the opportunity to visit a variety of booths including jewlery, clothings and other service booths.

 Subsequently, the sponsors Avadesh Agarwal, Sunil Tolani and invited guests including Dr. Krishna Reddy were invited to the podium and were thanked by Dr. Manorama Sharma Gupta for their support that made the “Grand Diwali Mela” possible.