A Grand San Francisco Reception for Newlyweds
A Pakistan Link Report
Above : Glimpses of the Valima Reception
It was a red carpet affair at the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda, an internationally attended reception with guests from Pakistan, India and even China along with the mainstream local community. The hosts were certainly geared up to entertain their multiethnic guests because at South-Asian wedding receptions one rarely sees Sushi being served on one Food Island and naans along with seekh kababs on another (and Italian on another etc.).
Bay Area residents Ashraf and Shahida Habibullah sure know how to throw a party. We, who have come to know Ashraf over the years as the President of the prestigious Diablo Ballet Company and CEO of the engineering software company CSI, are well aware of how great a host he is. Some of us have been his honored guests on a number of happy occasions. But this time we were expecting Ashraf to outdo himself, and he certainly did, since this event was a valima reception honoring newlywed son Asif and daughter-in-law Kiran.
In normal circumstances, one would have just attended this party and left the venue after thoroughly enjoying the company of our great hosts and many of their close friends. The wedding of Asif and Kiran took place in Lahore, Pakistan on January 7th this year. This event was a follow-up from the groom’s side of the family, a delayed reception in San Francisco . But peering at us on the invitation photograph was a famously familiar face. The new bride was no other than Kiran Bokhari, the daughter of Naeem Bokhari and singing Diva Tahira Syed. And that in itself added a new dimension to the event, generating this short report.
It was great to see Tahira Syed once again but this time she was not singing. That feat was left to Riffat Sultana and Party who did a fine job and even got Tahira to make some dancing moves. Other members of her family were there too. Both Tahira and daughter Kiran looked radiant and happy.
We wish newlyweds Asif and Kiran and both their families all the best.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
