IndiaPost.com - FIA (So Cal) celebrates India’s Independence Day

India Post News Service

DIAMOND BAR: The Federation of Indo-American Associations of Southern California (FIA So. Cal) celebrated India’s 61st Independence Day with a dinner banquet at the Diamond Bar Community Center, Sunday Aug 21. It was a grand banquet attended by a full house of over 500 people, including Diamond Bar Mayor Jack Tanaka, Peter Mathews of the 27th Distt (Long Beach), FIA founding father and Chairman Gopio S. Inder Singh and the FIA leadership, to mention a few.

Also present at the dinner was Venkatesh Hegde, of the State Bank of India. The evening kicked off with the lighting of the lamp and the national anthems. FIA president Surinder Bhoyal, past President Moti Kapoor and Executive VP Ajmer Singh welcomed the guests and introduced the FIA team and the invitees to the guests.

The entertainment was multi-layered and brought about the best of talent from So. Cal. Sunny Singh enthralled the guests with vintage Kishore Kumar songs. Dipali Singh is a qualified voice trainer and an accomplished artiste. Extremely pretty, charming and vivacious, Dipali had the audience on the edge of their seats. Avtar Chadha is a familiar face at such events and he entertained the audience with the best of Mohamed Rafi.

Not to be left behind were the kids, who presented a variety ranging from Bollywood to Bhangra. Mayor Tanaka presented a proclamation from his city, as did Councilman Harry Sidhu. Community leaders including Inder Singh and Dr. Nitin Shah were honored. Likewise the sponsors were also feted. There was a well stocked bar serving the choicest sprits.

The evening ended with Harjit Mehndi on stage, singing the best of Bollywood and Punjabi folk. It was indeed a very well organized event and the So. Cal. FIA deserves full credit for it. Founded in 1979, this is the original and the oldest FIA in Southern California.