DIASPORA CELEBRATE THE BEST OF BRITISH ASIAN CULTURE AT ANAND MELA
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AsianVoiceNews
Asian Voice | 18th June 2016
AsianVoiceNewsweekly
Charusmita & Aaditya Kaza
The weekend of 11th and 12th June witnessed an enthusiastic crowd of people coming together for this year’s Anand Mela. In its 6th year, organised by ABPL Group, Anand Mela hosted 120 performers and 20 performances over two days. Anand Mela 2016 was inaugurated by the Mayor of Harrow Cllr Rekha Shah, Bob Blackman MP, and CB Patel, Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar along with children of Shishukunj by lighting the lamp. The inauguration was well attended by the councillors and mayors of the local councils including Navin Shah AM, Cllr Sachin Shah, Cllr Muhammed
Butt, Cllr Krishna Suresh, to name a few. Shishukunj, our Charity Partner for this year, had enthusiastic little children representing them on stage along with the dignitaries to celebrate the Queen’s 90th Birthday in a cake-cutting ceremony, followed by the British National Anthem. Spread around the Byron Hall were a host of stalls and sideshows that gave visitors the chance to not only shop for ethnic
Dignitaries Muhammed Bhatt, Ayesha Raza, Navin Shah AM, Cllr Rekha Shah, Mayor of Harrow Council, Bob Blackman MP, CB Patel, celebrating the HM The Queen's 90th birthday
Manorma Joisi dancing on the stage
Young dancer on the stage
A K Bollywood Dance engaging the audience at Anand Mela
CB Patel receiving an award from the Health and Wellness Expo
jewellery, sarees, traditional wear but also relish Indian street food, sweets, and fresh cupcakes. The children particularly enjoyed the face-painting stall. There were stalls for travel, online tuitions, and a host of other small and large scale businesses that the visitors flocked around during the course of the day. Shishukunj, our Charity Partner for Anand Mela 2016, is a children’s charity that has been working in London for over 30 years. Through the medium of Indian culture, they try to instil morals and val-
ues in children from the age of 5 upwards so that they become responsible and respected leaders of tomorrow’s society. Students from Shishukunj also presented a vibrant folk dance performance for our audience. The highlights of the cultural show at Anand Mela included theatre, Garba, Bollywood dancing, pop and fusion singing, Vedic harmony and yoga choreography. The stellar line up included Navin Kundra, Honey Kalaria, Muhammed Fahad, Shishukunj, Manorma Joisi, AK Dance Academy,
Kishan Amin, Mira Salat, Sai School, Subhendu Banerjee, Jayden, Shishukunj, Ishwar Sharma, and K’z Dance Entertainment. Navin Kundra, a Guinness World Record holder, has performed for the Royal Family as well as during the Indian PM Modi’s visit to the UK last year. At Anand Mela, he enraptured the audience with his voice – singing songs from the yesteryears, latest Bollywood charts, as well as his own numbers. Honey Kalaria put together Anand Mela’s Got Talent, a performance
Performers of K'z Dance company dancing to Raas Garba
A K Bollywood Dance troupe performs on stage