Diwali Extravaganza With Consul General of India and Club 24

Finally the celebrations for the Indian festival of lights, Diwali, came to an end with two mega parties worth talking about. A Diwali party hosted by Club 24 and Consul General of India Hosts Diwali Dinner with dancer Alarmel Valli.

Earlier last week The Consul General of India in Houston Mr. P. Harish hosted a Diwali dinner with an exclusive group of media and prominent Indian Americans to honor Bharatnatyam dancer and choreographer, Mrs. Alarmel Valli. Valli is one of Bharatnatyam’s premier reigning artistes. She has received many honors, titles and awards, among them the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan from the President of India; the Chevalier of Arts & Letters and the Grande Medaille de la Ville de Paris from the French Government; the award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi; and the Kalaimamani from the Tamilnadu Government.

Meanwhile, Aku Patel of Karat 22 Jewelers opened his lavish home to host a Diwali Dinner for Club 24 members and other dignitaries. Club 24 is an Indo-American organization in Houston, which fosters a tradition of building bridges with mainstream organizations in Houston as well as participating with major organizations to develop programs of need and significance to the Indo-American community in Houston.

The evening was colorful, like a Bollywood movie, with hundreds of guests enjoying traditional Indian vegetarian food, fireworks, and strings of yellow lights wrapping the palm trees with floating candles. Aku Patel’s daughter Rachna Patel was spotted wearing a Sabyasachi blue kurta, Club 24 President Sangeeta Pasrija adored her evergreen smile and a vintage style red anarkali, some non-Indians also made quite an impressive effort in wearing a sari and men were spotted in sherwanis. Also dancing to the tunes of bollywood music – Payal Chana, David Raj, Mona Parikh, Nat and Leela Krishnamurthy, Brij Kathuria, and many others.

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