CHICAGO: The first of its type iCAN Finale Night held at Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows (a Northside suburb of Chicago) was a dazzling affair as the crème-de-la-crème of Chicagoland added to the glamour quotient and made it a memorable evening.
The event on March 18 was launched in association with Star plus & Life OK, two of the leading TV channels, along with 40+ local sponsors. It started with a red carpet welcome for all the iCAN nominees, reminding one of any film awards night. All the nominees and their families were specially treated as heroes for that evening.
The evening celebrated the achievements of real community heroes -200 Plus Award nominees – in presence of close to 1000 attendees among whom were prominent personalities from Chicago’s Indian American political, social, business and entertainment community. Amidst fabulous performances, entertainment and glamour, iCAN honored the contributions of these community heroes by giving away its 1st iCAN Trophies to the most deserving social workers, community leaders and performers across various categories.
Indian Consul General Ms. Neeta Bhushan was the Chief Guest. Jassi Parmar and Mohan Rawat, the very versatile and highly talented EMCEE’s, made the evening a memorable experience for all.
With about 700 nominations in various categories and over 100,000 votes, the event had all the trappings of the world famous Academy Awards. The electrifying performance of 150 artists was an icing on the cake. The presence of the 40 generous sponsors was a great morale booster for all. It’s a moment of great pride to bring the community leaders from different walks of life under one roof and to recognize their spectacular services to the community in a grand function.
A total of 38 awards were presented in the field of dance, music, community, health, performing arts et al. The awards ceremony started with presenting Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Bharat Barai-Panna, a recipient of President Award. Barai thanked iCAN team for encouraging all the young talent in the community.
Dr. Deepak Kant Vyas, Chairman & CEO of Redberri Corporation was given Special Jury Award. Dr. Deepak referred to the following famous quote of Ethel Percy Andrus: “What I spent is gone; what I kept, I lost; but what I gave away, will be mine forever”.
Harold D’Souza was given the iCAN Humanitarian Services Award. “Humanitarian service is the service to the God and it is a reward in itself. One should keep serving the society irrespective of any appreciation”, said D’souza
Pride of Community Award was awarded to Sonal Rawal. The winner of the Best Community Promoter Award was Dr. Uma Katiki. The awards night continued with Best Restaurant Award – and the winner was Cuisine of India – Rahul Sehgal. Best Chef award was given to Chef Raghu Singh from India House.
Community Health and Fitness award was presented to Vidya Nahar. iCAN Friend of India was Mayor Bill McLeod from Hoffman Estates. He said he was very proud and humbled to receive this award on behalf of the people of Hoffman Estates.
Lifetime Achievement Award 2 for Outstanding Humanitarian Service was presented to Satnam Singh Aulakh.
He said that the event is professionally conceived and efficiently delivered. The Jury Award 2 was given to Ami Patel. Best Entrepreneur Female was awarded to Dr. Anuja Gupta, Fashion Icon Female was awarded to Ms Aishwarya Sharma. iCAN Jury Award 2 for Outstanding Community Service was presented to Hemangini Shastri, iCAN Youth Achiever Award was given to Saloni and Savani Nagarkar sisters who teach kids about coding. Youth Icon Award was won by Suhanee Patel. Student of the Year Award winner was Nipun Dubey. ICAN Jury Award 3, Young Achiever award was presented to Roni Akurati.
Best Singer Male was Mandeep Singh Saini, Best Singer Female was Nipa Shah, Best Volunteer award winner was Rajeev Bharel and Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Senior Service was Haribhai Patel.
Best Dancer Female was Kajol Topiwala, Best Choreographer was Sweta Bhagwakar, Best Entrepreneur Male was Rahul Wahi, Best Innovator was Anil Oroskar. Lifetime Achievement Award 4 for Outstanding Community Service was Jayantilal Thakkar. Best Performing Artist was awarded to Ashley Singh.
Most Emerging Personality winner was Natasha Trikha. Fashion Icon Male was Syed Hussaini. Most Humble Person was Swapna Pula. Social Media King winner was Noman Khan, Social Media Queen was Farah Khan, Best wife Biwi No 1 winner was Farhana Bukhari, Best Couple Jodi No 1 winner was Puneet and Sim Sabarwal.
Best Show Promoter Group was Sahil and LA TAN; Best Dance Group/ Academy was Kalashree Dance Academy. Best Community Leader was awarded to Moon Khan. Best Community Organization was Blind Foundation for India. iCAN Jury Award for Best Community Volunteer Organization was Sant Nirankari Mission, Chicago.
The iCAN Awards Night continued with Neil Khot and Rita Singh as MCs. It ended on a very high note as local talent groups enthralled the audience with their scintillating entertainment. In the midst of a high energy event, the audiences also got a chance to hear some anecdotes/ powerful notes from distinguished members of the iCAN executive team.
The Leadership of iCAN which includes Ravi Rawat, Jassi Parmar, Sanjeev Singh, Rita Singh, Bhavesh Patel, Neil Khot, Girish Kapoor and Nilesh Topiwala, thanked all the guests, volunteers, sponsors, and community leaders who attended the event. They also promised to present the next edition of the Ican awards night on a still better note.
Ashfaq Syed
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