Remarkable India Day celebration by Council of Indian Australians Inc. (CIA)

INDIA DAY DINNER 2016 : 70th Indian Independence Day was celebrated on 13th August, 2016 at Bowman Hall, Campbell Street, Blacktown

Both sides of politics – federal and state were represented in the guests list. Among the dignitaries who attended the dinner function included Mr Kevin Conolly MP Member for Riverstone representing NSW Premier Mr Mike Baird MP, The Hon. Daniel Mookhey, MLC, Member of the Labour Party and Legislative Council representing Mr Luke Foley MP Leader of the Opposition, Dr Vinod Bahade, Deputy Consul General representing Indian High Commissioner and CG, The Hon. David Clarke MLC, Dr Geoff Lee MP, Member for Parramatta, Dr Hugh McDermott, MP Member for Prospect representing Michelle Rowland, MP for Greenway, Mr Mark Taylor MP Member for Seven Hills, Mr Matt Kean MP, Member for Hornsby, Mr Susai Benjamin, Councilor from Blacktown representing Mayor of Blacktown Mr Gurpreet Singh, Councilor for Hornsby and Mr Subba Rao Varigonda, President of Indian Support Center. In addition to this, there were some other community leaders and representatives from local media attended the function.

Mr Praful Desai, President of CIA and his wife Mrs Dipti Desai performed the lighting of the lamp ceremony to commence the proceeding of the evening. Mr Nitin Shukla, Event Director and CIA Secretary welcomed the houseful audience of more than 400 and stated highlights of the program. Miss Gurpreet played the role of MC for the evening. The entertainment part of the evening was focused around “India Day Dance Competition 2016” with the objective of promoting the local Indian Australian talent and Indian cultural heritage. The Council of Indian Australians encouraged all leading local dance groups in Sydney to participate and display their talents to win cash prizes of $2,000 including the one price decided by audience voting. The leading six dance groups and two solo dancers participated in the event. The judges decided first three winners based on judging criteria that included costumes, rhythmic and respective elements, synchronisation, energy level, expression, choreography, creativity, use of stage space and overall impact. The Dance Competition 2016 was a mega success with dance performances highlighting ethnic Indian culture from classical to Bollywood performances. The audience also enjoyed with voting and comments from judges.

The judges’ panel included well known personalities from Sydney namely, Kumud Merani, SBS Hindi radio, Kartik Mohandas from ZEE TV, Sumati Nagpal from Swastik Dance Academy and Dr Kanan Shah from NIPA. Soon after the Dance competition, there was a Fashion Show titled “I am She” presented by Shalini’s Indian Fashion.

The official part of the program commenced with presentation of a video on CIA vision and recent achievements. Following the video film presentation, the guests rose for national anthems of both Australia and India.

As a formal part of the program, in his welcome address, Mr Praful Desai, President of the Council of Indian Australians appreciated the relationship India and Australia shared.

Once the official part of the function was over, Mr Mohit Kumar, Vice President of CIA, announced the winners. Rhythm of Bhangra won the first prize of $800 followed by $500 by Miss Kalyani Rao and Jhanak Dance Group winning the third prize of $300. The fourth prize was audience voting which the Rhythm of Bhangra also won. All contestants were presented with certificates.

In continuation of Council of Indian Australian’s support strategy for a deserving charity at each of its functions, the CIA took to the cause of Indian Support Center, a charity organization borne out of CIA. The ISC helps new migrants, job seekers, domestic violence victims and senior citizens.

Nitin Shukla, Secretary, in his vote of thanks, thanked the Blacktown Council, Maya Da Dhaba, Judges, Ms Gurpreet MC and Renjit for music and all the distinguished guests for attending the evening and making it a grand success.