Fort Bend lights up their hearts with the Holiday Spirit

By Ruchi Mukherjee

With a large Indian population in the Sugar Land area, the Indo American Forum of Fort Bend hosted their annual Diwali gala on Friday November 20, 2016 at the Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land, Texas. It was a beautiful gathering of a diverse group under one roof to celebrate the holidays.

Indo American Forum of Fort Bend (IAF) represents the growing Indo American community as a positive and representative force that contributes to fostering a bond between Indian Americans and other neighboring communities. This annual holiday gala event is hosted to raise funds for various notable charities such as Child Advocates of Fort Bend, Meals on Wheels, Fort Bend Junior Service League, Star of Hope, Mumbai Monsoon Relief Funds, and a few others.

Diwali is one of the most prominent festivals of India, a celebration of good over evil, light over darkness and the mission of the gala was to create a strong awareness of the Indo American Community and its cultural traditions. The gala was also a celebration of the upcoming holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas keeping the mission statement of the organization alive that states contributing a positive force in the community, and support humanitarian causes.

Guests at the gala enjoyed scrumptious spread of Indian cuisine catered by Bombay Brasserie, lighting of the lamp, bhangra dance – all this with the company of the delightful emcee Deepi Sidhu, Co-Host of Texans Radio and daily contributor to HoustonTexans.com.

At times like these when the world seems torn with terror attacks, it is so refreshing to see the true values of American culture and that is to celebrate uniqueness, diversity, color and embrace all that with an open heart. Gala hosted by Chairman Vipul Anand and Geeta Anand along with Event Chair Hardeepak Singh Munday, Rick Pal, Lalit Jallan, and several volunteers.

Spotted dancing till the wee hours to the Bollywood beats by DJ Impact in fashionable attire were: Shefali and Shabbar Tejani, Farida Abjani, Lathika Bathija, Manisha Ghei, Preet Munday, Harish Jajoo, Jai Kaur, Himesh and Farah Gandhi, Salima and Parvez Merchant, Seema Vohra, Manmeet and Paul Likhari, Caroline Atkinson, and many others.

Photo credit: Navin Mediwala

(Ruchi Mukherjee LCAHouston Host can also be seen on FOX 26 ‘Keeping the Traditions Alive’, a regular segment that features Houston’s rich cultural diversity such as festivals like these from various communities. She has featured Houston’s Ed Ul Adha celebration, Swaminarayan Temple, Italian Festival, Bengali cuisine, Durga Puja celebrations and much more.) Watch the video.