NEW YORK: The spirit of Diwali continues with South Asians for Right Choice (SA4RC) celebrating the event with several elected officials. Hosted by SA4RC (South Asian For Right Choice – Pam Kwatra, Eric Kumar & Team), Co-hosted by Congresswoman Grace Meng & Public Advocate Letitia “Tish” James, several elected officials, Organization Presidents, Community leaders and over 350 people from all over Tri- State graced the occasion at Richie Rich Restaurant in Queens. The overall event was coordinated by Eric Kumar and Flora Parekh – General Secretary for SA4RC.
Elected officials and representatives namely Senator James Sanders, Senator Toby Stavisky, Assembly Member David Weprin, Councilmen Peter Koo, Assembly Member Felix Ortiz, Hon. John Liu, Emily Saltzman Representative from Governor Cuomo’s office, Meena Malik Representative from District Attorney Ken Thompson’s office, Mohammad Hack Representative from Queens Borough President Melinda Katz’s office, and Dev Awasthi, Representative from NYC comptroller Scott Stringer’s office.
Inspector Brian Maguire Head of Queens Narcotics and Captain Danielle Raiai Executive officer from 102nd Pct, graced the event with their presence. Elected Officials shared their views on Diwali and the importance of South Asian community involvement & support in the political process.
“SA4RC is a goal-based united front to deal with elected officials & candidates running for offices, become influential in legislation that affects the concerns of the South Asian community, encourage and support our fellow South Asians in running for offices and increase the number of appointed officials and enhance the coordination & bonding with our community” said Pam Kwatra, Founder and Chairwoman.
“SA4RC was created with the goal and need of providing a united front for the South Asian community to actively participate in the American governing and electoral process,” said Eric Kumar, Co-Founder & Vice Chair.
Congresswoman Grace Meng & Public Advocate Letitia “Tish” James, honored SA4RC with a Proclamation for its outstanding services to the South Asian & American community. Three distinguished community leaders – Hemant Mathur, Jarnail Singh & Flora Parekh – were honored by Congresswoman Grace Meng and Public Advocate Letitia “Tish” James for their excellent contribution to community services.
The festivities started with “Lightning of the lamps” or diyas by the elected officials, SA4RC team & distinguished community leaders, followed by American Anthem & Indian Anthem by Master of Ceremonies Eric Kumar & Flora Parekh.
The celebrations continued with the surprise birthday celebration of Congresswoman Grace Meng followed by several official / community leaders greeting and dancing to the tunes of professional singer Varsha Joshi & DJ Vic.
The venue was beautifully decorated with traditional diyas and rangoli by Taran Bir Kaur – Joint Secretary of SA4RC. Miss South Asia International 2014, Trisha Guduru welcomed all guests with a traditional Vermillion tika and the guests were warmly hosted by SA4RC Executive Committee members Dr Raj Bhayani, Paresh Parekh and SA4RC Treasurer Raj Wadhwa.
SA4RC Advisors Rupal Sehgal and Vishal Sharma along with a team of volunteers welcomed at over 350+ attendees at this weekday event. Richie Rich restaurant provided delicious food to all invitees. Beautiful dance number by Nikki and Simran Jagda cast a spell on the audience. The event ended with a Vote of thanks from Pam Kwatra and a box of delicious Diwali sweets to all attendees.
India Post News Service
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