BIA Diwali Celebration

BIA in partnership with Hindu Council, Brent Council and Ealing Road Traders had a fantastic Diwali celebration on Sunday, 20th October 2019. Tremendous Day! Jaz of AEM and his team were here at the crack of dawn to set up for the event.  In line with the spirit of Diwali we had colour, dance and music galore. Celebrations kicked off at Ealing Road Library with the Mayor of Brent Ernest Ezeajughi, the Mayoress and Cllrs Muhammed Butt, Krupa Sheth, Trupti Sangani, Krupesh Hirani, Bhagwanji Chohan, GLA member Navin Shah and Ajay Maru ex-Mayor of Harrow inspecting the various stalls and stepping up to the beat of the dhol players with some wicked dance moves! Very impressive too. The party danced all the way to BIA premises. Both BIA Chairman Hiten Vaidya and Hindu Council Chairman Ashwin Galoria’s speeches reflected the importance of the coming together of organisations and thus encouraging the community spirit. The Mayor’s speech emphasised the importance of service in the community.

BIA’s Elderly Ladies Satsang Group led the entertainment with prayers in which the Mayor, Mayoress and Cllrs all participated. Foram’s Dance Academy’s toddlers and young dancers brought gasps of delight from the audience time and time again with their numerous Bollywood dance performances. The talented Tejaswini’s Bharat Natyam dances were indeed spell binding. The solo dance performances by Nital and young Shreya were mesmerising. Live singing from Yatinkumar of Bollywood songs entertained us throughout. The food stall was a great success as were the Kumon and saree stalls. The Crime Prevention and GMB Union also made their presence felt. Goody bags courtesy of GMB and Tropical Sun were distributed to the delight of all the children. The Rangoli competition generated a lot of interest and excitement and we have Upendra Solanki and the Hindu Council team to thank for this. The Rangolis were crafted in real time and it was fascinating to watch this with a Diwali theme woven into the design. The participants, organisers, judges and sponsors all contributed to its great success. BIA staff and EC members served tea and coffee throughout to members of the public showing a great generosity of spirit. Bravo! Our particular thanks to Ruby of Brent Council and Jaz of AEM for bringing this event to fruition. Special thanks to the Barry Gardiner MP for making his way to BIA straight from Scotland and honouring us with a few words emphasising unity between diverse communities and, also for handing out the Rangoli prices. And a very big thank you to all who supported this event, you know who you are!
​
Roll on Diwali 2020 for an even bigger and better celebration!

Gallery