Deepavali Milan 2013

It’s a warm and fuzzy ambience yet again at the annual North Shore Diwali celebration

The Hornsby War Memorial Hall sparkled as it played host to Diwali in early November.

Women in colourful sarees and men in resplendent kurtas and the little ones matching their parents in their colourful best, filled the hall.

This was Deepavali Milan 2013. A North Shore based community group’s annual Diwali night, has grown from its small beginnings to an eagerly awaited event.

Like in previous years, this year the organisers Kamini Sahni, Shibani Sahni Patel, Veenu Singh, Deepa Arora, Kamini Raj Singh and Kavita Mistry, welcomed guests at the door with the characteristic warmth that has become the hallmark of this event.

People stopped to pay obeisance to the gods of the season Lakshmi and Ganesh, and to admire the rangoli created in their honour. Great work there, Maya Narpatsingh and Niti Bajaj!

Inside, the simple stage stood transformed into a magnificent platform, housing a portable shrine. Niti Bajaj, it was revealed later, was to be credited for the beautiful decorations on that night.

As guests mingled, new friends were made, such as the recently arrived Manager for Air India Ravi Bodade. He brought with him an old friend known to all present. After a 16-year absence, it was nice to see the airline’s now famous icon ‘Air India Maharaja’ also make his presence felt on the stage.

Panditji Dave and Lt Col Virander Sahni performed the Diwali pooja (worship rituals) to kickstart the event. As MCs Divya Dhingra and Nitin Madan took to the floor, a thoroughly enjoyable program of dances and fashion shows began.

The children’s fashion show was equally entertaining as Savar Bajaj, Sana Bajaj, Dhylan Dugal, Roshni Raj Singh, Aanya Goyal, Anisha Goyal, Tanisha Kurlekar, Paavni Singh, Reet Raj Singh, Sania Sehgal, Aditya Vikram Arora, Lara Kumar, Shayaan Patel, Rishi Mistry, Jason Raj, Jashan Dugal, Jaiman Dugal, Siyona Jain, Tejal Yadav, Addya Rajankar, Khushi Arora, Supriya Segal, Ghazal Chawla and Muskan all strutted their stuff on the stage. The littlest ones were accompanied by their adult partners who encouraged them along.

The children’s presentation included the famous Lungi Dance, while the Taal group from Sanskriti (Tejal Yadav, Ghazal

Chawla, Muskan, Khushi Arora and Supriya Segal) presented contemporary beats and some Bollywood tunes. Deepa Arora from Sanskriti choreographed the entire show and also gave a stunning solo performance to Aaja Nachle. Among the ladies that also danced on the night were the group Dhamal (Reema Goyal, Surbhi Jain, Hemlata Gupta, Suman Yadav and Poonam Kurlekar). These ladies then took part in the fashion show along