IALI celebrates Vaisakhi,
Festival of Harvest,
17
April, 2022Levittown Hall in Hicksville.
Vaisakhi, often called Baisakhi, is the festival of harvest which brings family members and friends to dance and dine together. In keeping with the theme of unity in mind, organizers extended their invitations to all members of different regions of India and for the first time IALI witnessed the many multifaceted regions of India.
Highlights of the program included folk and Bollywood dances performed by students of Shilpa Mithaiwala of Rhythm Dance Academy and the Bhangra performed by the team members of Gabroo Jawan under the supervision of the founder of the team, Kathie Madaan. A lovely solo performance by Kareena Parekh and Tollywood performance by NYTTA youngsters were all added to entertain the audiences.
A tradition of Vaisakhi, the dhol, was played by Ram Prasad and his partner, and made the crowd dance to their beats.
President Bina Sabapathy, in her speech, emphasized the need to bring the community together for the prosperity of any organization. Members of various organizations have been honored for their leadership, community service and achievement in their special fields.
Among them were:
Ajith Bhaskar – President KKNY – Sports – Cricket
Dilip Kumar Musunuru – R.R.V. P. TANA – Community Service
Jaya Prakash Enjapuri – President – TLCA – Sports – Marathon
Lal Motwani – Chairman GOPIO -Community service & Contribution to various Organizations.
Ravindra Kumar Kamtam – President NYTTA – Community Service.
Satnam Singh Parhar – Past President – IALI – Sports – 4K Marathon.
Dr. Shefali Karkare – Medicine -Frontline worker.
Dr. Sukhvinder Ranu – Medicine –
Frontline worker.
Akshat Kaul – Finance -Photography.
Giani Bhupinder Singh – Hicksville Gurudwara – Spirituality. Along with the long list of honorees from different regions and different fields, Dr. Bobby Kumar Kalotee (Founding President of FFGH) recognized the hard work of organizers by presenting plaques to Bina Sabapathy – President IALI; Indu Jaiswal – President – IAF, Wioleta Dusza – Chairwoman – FFGH, Deepak Bansal – President IAAC, and Jay Singh (who couldn’t attend ) – President IDC. Guests were served with hot tea, coffee and snacks in the beginning of the program and at the end of the program with a sumptuous lunch sponsored by FFGH and catered by Punjabi Dhaba.
