Curries by candlelight

It is that time of the year again! Curries by Candlelight returned in its third year to celebrate Christmas with a difference at Pennant Hills Community Centre on Sunday 13 December, 2009. The evening was an “Indian meal with a Christmas feel” and had a packed audience celebrating Christmas with their family and friends. The event was also intended as a fund-raiser for Hornsby Hospital’s Koala Cottage.

Entertainment for the evening commenced with the melodious voice of Alison Young who put everyone in the mood with her traditional Christmas songs. This was followed by some fast-paced dances including a funk dance by Confectionary, a sizzling Salsa dance by Shade and Damien and a tantalising Bollywood medley by Janu and Prashani. Aaron finished with a pumping hip-hop number that thrilled the young spectators. There was a lot of audience involvement throughout the night with an interactive take on the Nativity story by Monisha and Soiam and the traditional appearance of the entertaining “Mama Claus” Lorraine, this time in her Bollywood attire. She entertained the crowd with her endearing wit and humour. There were prizes galore and a silent auction of goods that were donated. There also was a stall from “Mummy’s Cooking” with traditional Christmas cakes and cookies and, of course, a bit of the Indian Christmas feel with “kalkals” and “murukkus”. The night was hosted excellently by Dev Daniel who reminded everyone that there was a real reason for Christmas – the celebration of baby Jesus, worshipped by Christians all over. The season was all about sharing and caring and in the true spirit of Christmas, all proceeds of the night will be donated to Hornsby Hospital.

The three “wise” women on the Committee, Kath Bury, Pam Daniel and Shalini Ponnaiya, ably supported by the tireless contribution of Manju Raja would sincerely like to thank the many sponsors and donors who supported their efforts. The evening would definitely not have been possible without Santa’s silent helpers Vinay, Lutalo, Devina, Ed, Sophil, Soiam, Peter and Anand.

CbyC would like to wish everyone a happy and Merry Christmas!

The Hornsby Hospital’s Koala Cottage is the Family Care Cottage providing services for families of children up to 3 years old, living in the Hornsby and Ku-ringgai local government areas, who require help for more complex problems of infancy and Koala Family Care

107 Burdett Street, Hornsby NSW 2077