8
UK
Asian Voice - Saturday 24th November 2012
CHN Diwali Dinner celebrates a year of accomplishment The City Hindus Network (CHN) held its annual Diwali Dinner and Dance for over 110 guests at the Courthouse DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in London on Friday 2nd November 2012. ect including an independent The dinner was hosted by the CHN Advisory Board comprissocial impact analysis for Sewa ing Alpesh Patel, Founder Day, introduction of a new menPrincipal of Praefinium toring scheme, a very successful Partners, a global venture capiseries of intimate social nettal/private equity firm; Jitesh working dinners with leading Gadhia, Senior Managing personalities, supporting a social Director at The Blackstone enterprise aimed at helping Group, in London; Nishma minorities into employment, Gosrani, a senior director for forming an influential Advisory Deloitte; Sushil Saluja, Board, skiing and camping Managing Director of Accenture's United Kingdom and Ireland Financial Services business and Punam Denley, partner at Blanchards Law, which is a niche practice specialising in divorce, financial and children matters. The keynote was given by Lord Lord Dolar Popat and Alpesh Patel with an invited guest Dolar Popat, who stressed the importance of getsocial trips and events which aimed to tackle dilemmas for ting young people engaged in young British Hindus. The community activities, such as through the CHN, but also with CHNs volunteering initiatives politics. Alpesh Patel said that it have also been widely covered in was "the best event I've been to print media, radio and TV. all year - most fun group of people, intimate, and with an opportunity to speak to everyone." Alpesh and Punam reviewed a successful past 12 months for the CHN. Over the last year the CHN has welcomed an increasIn fact, a few days after the ing number of professionals to Diwali dinner, the CHN was social, spiritual and educational awarded a Community Service events, enabling our memberaward from Metropolitan Police ship to spend time and network Commissioner Bernard Hoganwith like minded individuals in Howe for the work done in conthe City. Achievements celebratjunction with the Met Police ed over the last year include a Hindu Association in particular very ambitious Sewa Day projto raise mental health awareness
Somita Basak performing a bharatnatyam recital
amongst the South Asian community. Nishma said it was "a huge privilege" to be part of the Advisory Board. She looked ahead to what 2013 may lie for the CHN. In particular, she emphasised the need to continue to engage a broader range of Hindu professionals, as well as students and new graduates coming into the world of work. In addition, the CHN is likely to engage in further thought leadership work that enables it to
effectively represent the views of its members to decision-making forums. The CHN launched an organ donation drive at the event, and Arjan Vekaria, Managing Director of builders Vascroft, wished everyone a happy Diwali and prosperous New Year.
The event contained performances to reflect the breadth and diversity of Diwali celebrations from across India. Somita
The hard working committee members of CHN: Aekta Mahajan, Dipen Jobanputra, Dimpi Dattani, Shonal Tankaria, Pratik Dattani
Basak from Beeja Dance led with a traditional bharatnatyam recital, followed by Lopa Kunvardia with a blend of traditional and Bollywood, and ending with an electrifying routine by Semper Fidelis and Natasha
Princess Anne unveils bust of Indian spy princess Princess Anne unveiled the bust of WWII heroine Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of Tipu Sultan, who had served as a secret agent in the Second World War on 8th November 2012 at Gordon Square, Central London. Over four hundred distinguished guests including MPs, peers, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, war veterans, former SOE agents and the RAF pilots who flew the agents on their mission, packed Gordon Square Gardens in London today to pay their respects to Noor, who was killed in Dachau Concentration Camp in 1944 at the age of 30. “Today in the presence of Your Royal Highness, we have packed this square to remember a heroine of the war, a young woman of Indian origin, who unhesitatingly gave her life for Britain in the fight against Fascism,” said Shrabani Basu, Chair of the Noor
Inayat Khan Memorial Trust and author of the book Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, who has led the campaign. “Noor was proud of her Indian heritage but she felt British and French at the same time. She wanted to be a citizen of the world and build bridges between nations. “As we observe Remembrance Week, the world will watch again as we remember the bravery of all those who fell like Noor and those like her who have no grave. We will not let their memories fade in the mist of time.” Noor Inayat Khan was the first woman radio operator to be dropped behind enemy lines in Europe. She did crucial work for the Allies but was betrayed, captured and killed. Despite brutal interrogation and torture she did not reveal any of the names of her colleagues and remained defiant till the
end. Her last word was “Liberte!”. "Stories like Spy Princess remind us of stories that have an important connection in the modern era. They are a reminder of the multicultural and international aspect of Noor's life and sacrifice. I hope this bust will remind us to ask questions of who; why; and what we can achieve in her memory," said Princess Anne at the ceremony in Gordon Square on Thursday. This was followed by a book reading and a message from the Noor Inayat Khan family. Noor was posthumously awarded the George Cross and the Croix de Guerre. The bronze bust is sculpted by London artist Karen Newman. It stands on the North-east corner of the square, close to house that Noor lived in and from where she left on her last mission.
Kataria from the Bhangra Showdown 2012. The event was compered by the CHN Social Events lead
Shrabani Basu with Princess Anne
Shonal Tankaria, and sponsored by Vikram Goyal from Indian real estate services firm Unesta, with support from the Asian Wealth Magazine, Mad4Cakes (Dharmesh Thakrar) in and DJ Tej from NytLifeUK.