Chicago: The Six Gam Patidar Samaj of Chicagoland area celebrated its annual Diwali program at the Midwest Swaminarayan temple in Itasca on November 14. More than 500 people participated in the event.
The program began with singing of the American national anthem by Nishal Patel and the Indian national anthem by President Vanleela Amin, Virendra Desai and Nishal Patel. A traditional oil lamp was lit by chief guest Consul General of India Ashok Kumar Attri and his wife Usha Kiran Attri. The emcees were Virendra Desai and chairman Raju Patel.
Ashok Kumar Attri praised the leadership for involving the youngsters in the organization. “This is our home away from home and we should involve our children to keep our culture and heritage alive, he said. He also spoke about new Web site of the Indian consulate inaugurated by Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vaylar Ravi and asked the audience to make use of it.
The Consul General announced that his office would be extending its services from the present five days to seven days a week and in case of an emergency, it would be happy to assist the needy. Most of the information about the consular and other services would be available on the Web site and the e-mail inquiries addressed to him would be answered within a short period.
The highlight of the SGPS program was the youth participation in serving the board as well the participation of children in the age group of 6-13 in the cultural program. The little ones performed Gujarati Garbo. Dressed in the traditional attire, the children enthusiastically participated in the program. Nishal Patel showed his talent not only by singing but also playing the Guitar. The audience loved and appreciated the musical presentation by “Babra and Party” from Bombay.
Six Gam Patidar Samaj celebrates annual Diwali
