CHICAGO: It was a treat to watch when a good number of elected officials at the local, State and Federal level came on one platform to offer Diwali greetings and New Year wishes to a large number of Indian Americans at Holiday Inn in Skokie, a north side suburb of Chicago.
The event was organized by Indo American Democratic Organization (IADO) in league with front ranking supporters of Democratic Party on Sunday November 18. It was not only to celebrate Diwali but also Idd, and more importantly unprecedented victory of Illinois Democratic candidates in the last elections held early this month.
As put by IADO president Harnedra Mangrola, the election results were in a way a great victory for his organization as most of the candidates backed by it romped home to victory and that IADO wanted to offer congratulations to winners as also thanks to a number of party workers and members for the huge efforts that they put in to get candidates elected.
“Many of us also desired to let the mainstream American politicians get acquainted with our cultural heritage and the Diwali celebrations really came handy. We were all thrilled that the Democratic leaders – Aldermen, State Senators and Representatives, US Congressman and Cook County President – should vie with each other in presenting their compliments and well wishes for Diwali and New Year to 200 plus elites of the Chicagoland,” he told this paper.
Present on the occasion were Cook County President Tony Prekwinkle, Rep. Jan Schakowski, Rep. Danny Davis, Rep. Bill Foster, Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep. Brad Schneider, State Senator Silverstein, State Senator Daniel Biss, Thomas Fullerton, State Rep Martin Moylan, State Rep Michelle Mussman, Laurie Nowak of Dupage County Commissioner, Ald Joe Moore, Ald Debra Silverstein, Ald. Ameya Powar and Raja Krishnamoorthy among others.
Ms Mukta Tomar, Consul General for India, was a Special Guest and in her brief speech she offered Diwali greetings to all and touched upon the basic philosophy behind Diwali celebrations. “It is victory of good over evil and light over darkness. The celebration crosses the boundaries of race, religion and language,” she observed. Ms Tomar also dwelt on the progress made by India in recent years in different areas of activities – technology, science, and economic front -and exuded confidence that India US relations would get more cemented in the coming year as both have common tradition of a democratic set up.
IADO Chief Mangrola welcomed the guests and talked about IADO efforts in getting Indian Americans more and more involved in mainstream politics. Congressmen Danny Davis said that Diwali signified victory of righteousness over evil as was evident “from recent election results” and that we look forward to better days ahead.
Congresswoman Jan Scacokwski, a doyen of Indian Americans, set the ball rolling lavishly praising IADO for its efforts in giving a boost to Democratic campaign and also wished everybody present happy Diwali. She talked about Festival of Lights and mentioned about Jewish celebration of Hannakua which is also a festival of light.
Cook County President Tony Prekwinkle thanked IADO for its efforts to ensure Democratic victory and singled out Balvinder Singh, a front ranking community activist, for his committed approach in this direction. Rep Mike Quigley, Bill Foster and Brad Schneider also addressed the meet and acknowledged the huge efforts put in by their Indian supporters. Ravi Villivalam, IADO Director, emceed the event very gracefully and besides introducing the guest celebrities, he also extended welcome to all those who came to attend the victory event.
The second generation Indian Americans were conspicuous by their presence. Parth Mangrola and Nirav Virani were seen prominently mingling with guests. Virani eloquently described the significance of Diwali as a festival as also Indian Americans’ involvement in mainstream politics. The near three hours of program ended with a sumptuous dinner.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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