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HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL — Opening a basketball game with the Indian anthem, followed by the US national song, and then presentation of Indian cultural dances four times in the entire game time.
All these were emotional and historic moments for the Indian Americans of Illinois, and a milestone event for the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), and particularly for Sunil Shah, its founder-president who created the concept and orchestrated the entire project effectively.
The celebration was organized in partnership with the Windy City Bulls that played its game on January 6 at Sears Arena Center in Hoffman Estates.
The event was titled as the presentation of Indian Heritage. The game opened with the Indian and American national anthems by Rehana Haque and Shubha Vedula, respectively.
The Windy City Bulls is the official NBA D-League Affiliate of the Chicago Bulls. On this occasion, Chicago Bulls’ general manager, Gar Forman, was also in the house.
“This was a real honor for all of us. With this type of program, we are going to mainstream platform to project Indian heritage," promised Shah.
Over two dozen local artists illuminated the indoor stadium and stole the hearts of the 2,000-plus crowd, said Mukesh Shah, the current president.
The artists who performed on the Bollywood numbers included: Neela Bahel, Shaila Bahel, Krisha Thakkar, Gurman Kaler, Shakti Santosh, Ria Kumar, Aanya Patel, Kavya Parikh, Ransher Kaler, Aarsh Patel, Rishin Parikh, Nishil Parikh, Aayush Thakkar, Ankit Rath, Aayan Shah, Nighat Ali, Naimiti Desai, Ritika, Chirag.
Instructors and choreographers were Sweta Bhagwakar, Gemini Bhimani, Rumi Shah, Aahuti Desai, Kajol Topiwala, Ujwal Patel, Aditya Kapoor and Rajeshwari Rawat.
The artists came from Junoon and SSS dancing schools.
Son of Sunil Shah, Sahaj Shah, also known as DJ Mr. Shaw, was the DJ of the festivities and regaled the audience. During the break time, people enjoyed foods available at Sai Saffaron’s concession stand.
FIA is grateful to all the members of the FIA executive board for helping the organization to achieve this goal, said Onkar Singh Sangha.
Those who worked hard in making this event successful were Dhitu Bhagwakar, Past President, Neil Khot and Moon Khan, Vice Presidents: Hitesh Gandhi, Shital Daftari, Ali Khan, Manjeet Singh Bhalla, Khaja Moinuddin, Treasurer: Payal Shah, Joint Treasurer: Jaimini Patel, Secretary: Ninad Daftari, Joint Secretary: Shalini Saxena, Directors: Nirav Shah, Gurmeet Singh, Dhaliwan, Nambirajan Vaithilingam, Ila Patel Chaudhari, and Vibha Dave.
FIA, an umbrella organization of the Indian American social service organizations, is hosting a gala event, in the celebration of India’s Republic Day, on January 28, at Meadows Club, 2950 Golf Road, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008.