Connecting over 25 millions NRIs worldwide
Most trusted Name in the NRI media
NRI PEOPLE- OUR NETWORK
 

Lions Club Of Little India

 

Maninder Singh Sethi elected President of Lions Club Of Little India

Lions Club of Little India 13th Annual Installation Ceremony

Los Angeles, July 17, 2014
NRIpress-Club/ Raj Srinivasan/Photos: Srini Natarajan
Dilip Butani
Ramesh/Dave

A gala event was organized by Lions Club of Little India for Club’s 13th installation ceremony at the Amaya Restaurant, Buena Park, CA on July 10th, 2014. About 200 people attended the event. The program began with a Fellowship and Registration hour where the audience and the participants interacted with each other and had the opportunity to network and meet, greet old Friends and make new Friends or acquaintances.

Maninder Singh Sethi elected President Lions Club Of Little India

The program started with Flag Salutation was done by Secretary Lion Amrit Bhandari followed by welcome address by Chairman Lion Dilip Butani. Mr. Butani welcomed guests of Honor that included Lion District Governor Kenny Shu, Artesia Mayor Tony Lima, assembly member Tony Lima of Artesia, Ex-Mayors Dr. Prakash Narain and Ms. Sally Flowers and Council Member Mr. Ali S. Taj. Mr. Butani gave an account of Club’s activities during last 12 years and said that Lions International was the largest service organization in the world with over 46,000 clubs and 1.35 million members.

District Governor Lion Kenny Shu then installed the Directors, other officers and Vice- Presidents. This was followed by the Installation of the Treasurers, Lion Kantilal Shah and Lion Ajay Khetani, Secretaries Lion Amrit Bhandari and Lion Subbu Shanmugham, Chairman Dilip Butani and President Maninder Singh Sethi. The patrons are Prince Sunil Tolani , K.V Kumar, Uka Solanki, Dr harvinder Sahota, Dr Shekhar Rahate and Ali Taj, Lion Maninder Singh Sethi then thanked the Lions Club for giving him the opportunity to serve them and said “Singh” means Lion and hence, he has always been a Lion. He highlighted the planned Charitable activities he and his committee plan to undertake including collection of electronic articles, glasses and food cans for those in need.

A special message received from US Representative Tulsi Gabbard was read by Lion Lion Subbu Shanmugham, who along with Lion Kantilal Shah emceed the program. Next Lion Ajay Khetani introduced Patron Ali S. Taj. Ajay mentioned that Ali Sajjad Taj has a B.A. in Economics and Political Science and also has a master degree in Public Administration. Ali has been with Financial Services Industry for the last 14 years. Lion Amrit Bhandari introduced patrons Dr. KV Kumar and Mr. Sunil Tolani. Amrit said that Kumar has the privilege of working with five Presidents and is chairman of Indian-American Republican Party.

For Mr. Sunil Tolani, Mr. Bhandari said “famously nick named “Sindhi Secretariat”. He is cognizant of passion, skills, values and mission with his leadership, vision, character and integrity setting the gold standard for generations of aspirational immigrants and business people. a brilliant CEO who brings out the best in all with his mantra “ do it right, do your best.”

Kumar in his brief speech congratulated the Club on completing 12 years and wished the club to do more and more projects. Sunil in his speech said “The wonders of the world are many;

Lions Club Organizations is one of them – a purpose tied to humanity. Each and every lion is a Hero with a capital H. “A Hero is any person really intent on making this world a better place for humanity” let’s all Do our kind deeds small-big anything-something, it does not matter as collectively it becomes extra-large and ‘encourage someone, be an angel, a blessing to those who deserve it and those who do not. Lions, you may never know whose life you are turning around as Kindness is the language, which even the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Do something heroic with something, heroic with enough exuberance in it to fill several lifetimes. Chairman Dilip Butani’s vision is to provide a platform that would serve as a bridge between Indian Americans and mainstream society, regardless of religions or politics. The idea to set up something that is secular and focused on the new upcoming generations building a continued successful institution that will be able to serve a large number of our community members of all ages particularly seniors and children, uniting our community and various other Indian Associations. In order to achieve greatness, we have to spread goodness. Let’s do it together. We are emperors of our empires, we are the Vikings of our day, let us all be the ultimate arbiter of success hitting a home run. Let’s go full ways with our hearts and souls- cheers to Lions Club of Little India.

Following these 13 individuals including Tolani and Kumar were recognized for their dedicated service and contributions to Indo-American Society with plaques distributed to them by Mayor Tony Lima and ex-mayor Dr, Prakash Narain, Ex. Mayors Dr. Prakash Narain & Sally Flowers and Former Assemblyman Tony Mendoza. All the four in their speeches congratulated the Club and its members. Next Lion Khetani introduced Ram Talisdar who along with singer Abdul Bahar Khan entertained the audience with wonderful songs. Four beauty queen title holders and upcoming actresses Priyadarshini Roy, Neetu Gupta, Ohmnie Patel and Avnee Mithaiwala were also recognized and welcomed into Lions Club. Priyadarsni on behalf of the four congratulated the new team and wished them good luck for the coming year.

Subsequently, a beautiful bronze Ganesha idol was auctioned and a lighting ceremony was conducted with chanting of prayers by the assembled Lions and the audience. This was followed by a Sumptuous and Delicious dinner that was served by Amaya Restaurant. Overall, it was a fun-filled day with everyone enjoying the event The festivities began at 7:00 PM and ended around 11 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS