Joint Eid &
Diwali Celebration in Fremont
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The Indian and Pakistan community of
San Francisco Bay Area created history when they jointly
celebrated Diwali and Eid Al Fitr on the Thanksgiving eve,
on November 24. The event was held at the lavishly decorated
banquet hall of the Chandni Restaurant in Newark, CA.
The event, a brainchild of a successful Pakistani businesswoman,
Yasmeen of Bemisaal Boutique, was also part of an effort
to promote people-to-people contact in order to strengthen
the current peace moves between India and Pakistan. The
Bay Area has taken a lead in these efforts. The San Francisco-based
United Religions Initiative is sponsoring a peace train
from India to Pakistan on January 12 to promote peace in
South Asia.
When I reached the Chandni Restaurant at the scheduled time
for the program, I was rather disappointed that there was
no hustle bustle of a show outside the banquet hall. There
were few people in the hall. However within one hour, the
hall was almost full. After a delay of an hour or so the
show began and kept the guests’ attention focused
on the attractive performances.
L to R :Mimi Shukla,Charanjeet,Anisha
Bakshi,Sameena Ali and Raj Nagam
Sameena Ali was the
mistress of the ceremony. This year Eid Al Fitr and Diwali
fell on the same day, November 12. Sameena Ali reminded
the audience that the two events fell on the same day after
40 years. She assured the audience that there would be many
interesting items in the program for every age of people.
The show proved that she was right.
The program included a live music show that was professionally
organized and presented. Ali Shahabuddin, brother of Pakistan’s
famous music director, Kareem Shahabuddin, was the director
of the music show. Malkit Singh demonstrated his skills
on tabla.
Anisha Bakshi, who holds a Master’s degree in Music,
began the music program with a mystical rendition in her
melodious voice. On peoples’ demand she presented
a number of songs and mesmerized the audience. She was followed
by two male artists, Charanjeet Singh and Raj Nagam, who
presented popular songs in Urdu and Punjabi. Another singer,
Mimi Shukla thrilled the audience with her melodic voice.
Popular ghazal singer, Sunil Khanna, was the last singer
of the music show. He drew wide applause for his rendition
of ghazals and geets.
Another interesting item of the music show was a classical
dance presented by Richa Shukla. It drew wide applause for
her perfect movements.
Participants in the joint Eid-Diwali
function
A Fashion Parade was
the main attraction of the colorful evening which actually
stole the show. There were two sessions of the fashion show
at which young volunteers presented latest dress designs
for men and women. There was pin drop silence when the models
passed through and staged the catwalk. There were latest
designs for gents as well as ladies with bright colors in
latest fashions. Not only the designs and color schemes
of the dresses attracted the audience but the presentation
of the models too was found to be highly professional. Many
in the audience admired the skills and professionalism of
Yasmeen who spent a lot of time in training the models and
perfected them with last minute rehearsals. The fashion
show was almost a replica of the shows which one often watches
on the TV.
Although the Eid and Diwali had passed 12 days ago but the
show created an atmosphere of an Eid and Diwali Mela. Another
attraction of the joint Diwali and Eid Show was a Meena
Bazaar. One corner of the spacious banquet hall of the Chandni
Restaurant was reserved for display of artificial jewelry
and boutique. It was a busy corner where people got dresses
and jewelry at bargain prices.
At the end, Sameena Ali thanked the sponsors of the Diwali
and Eid Show, particularly Sherri Stoneberger of Re/Max
Executive Realty, Jvanjee Insurance of San Jose and Fremont
Printing for making this historic event possible. She also
thanked all fashion show volunteers who played a key role
in making the show a success. Sameena Ali also thanked Raana
Faiz, producer of the popular Pakistani radio program of
San Francisco, Hamrahi, for promoting the event to strengthen
peace in South Asia. Hamrahi Radio this month completed
24 years of its broadcast. Sameena Ali also thanked Pakistan
Link for providing extensive coverage to the Pakistani community
activities and thus encouraging the community’s social
activities. She also thanked the management of the Chandni
Restaurant for providing excellent service and delicious
food. Sameena Ali expressed the hope that the Sa n Francisco
Bay Area community will witness such India-Pakistan people-to-people
contact events in the future also.
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