Friends of India Entertaining Diwali Event Experienced a Lugubrious Ending
Last weekend Friends of India Diwali event, with over 500 in attendance, at the local high school cafeteria started on a good note with a host of local children showcasing the diverse cultural dances from across India.
Friends of India President Ram Singh welcomed the attendees and thanked his executive committee for their continued commitment and contribution to the club’s activities. Singh introduced the incoming President, Rajat Sood, who introduced the new incoming executive committee for the 2022-24 term. The new executive committee members are Saroj Chatterjee, President-Elect; Neeru Piplani, Vice President; Meena Dadlaney, Secretary; Purbasha Banerjee, Cultural Secretary; Savita Kaushal, Public Relations; and Ashneel Singh, Treasurer.
The casual once-a-year affair was an Indian evening of entertaining musical performances (except for the disastrous out-of-town entertainers), socializing, and dining on delicious Indian cuisine, catered by Surjit Hira and his team at the India Palace Indian Restaurant.
City of Las Vegas Mayor Pro Tem Stavros Anthony and a candidate for the Nevada Lieutenant Governor provided a proclamation declaring October a Hindu American Appreciation Month for the contributions made by the local Indian Hindu community towards the economic vitality, growth, and wellbeing in Southern Nevada.
With election season in full swing, the host of candidates walked through the doors to meet with the Indian community voters. Indian-American Congressman from San Francisco, Ro Khanna, talked about the importance of voting and making one’s voice heard via the ballot box. Khanna was in town to campaign and energize the voters. Other candidates attending the evening event were Gubernatorial candidates Sheriff Joe Lombardo, the incumbent Steve Sisolak, candidate for Lt. Governor Stavros Anthony, Senator Catherine Cortez, Judge Susan Baccum, candidate for Congress April Becker, and others. With non-stop mingling, conversations, and children running around, it was a little disrespectful to the elected officials and candidates running for elected public office, especially during the speeches. Candidates felt uncomfortable as no community members were seen welcoming or communicating with them, except for a photo-op with Governor Sisolak.
By 6:30 pm, dinner was set up and ready to go; however, the caterer didn’t get permission to open the buffet lines. Many attendees were visibly upset as children, and some seniors were hungry and seen waiting in line for over half an hour.
A kaleidoscope of diverse performances depicted Indian pop culture emphasizing popular contemporary Bollywood numbers. Overall, 26 exciting performances were showcased with commitment and dedication by over 125 local children and adults, dressed in vibrant, colorful outfits under the exemplary leadership of FOI Cultural Secretary Purbasha Banerjee. Around 7:30 pm, attendees were requested to move to the school’s auditorium for a performance from the invited group of singers and musicians.
The concert at the auditorium was delayed. As per some committee members, the delay was due to the mishandling of the contractual obligations between the promoter and Friends of India. Three singers reached Vegas without their accompanying musicians. The last-minute scrambling by the promoter and a community member resulted in new musicians who were not ready for the prime time. Half an hour into the concert, three replacement musicians took a break when one of the visiting artists started dancing to Bollywood songs.
The so-called professional concert was a disaster, with the below-average singers wearing incongruous outfits for the occasion. The audience was shocked to see the lackluster performance with no musical coordination among the singers and musicians. “Today’s program is more of a Karaoke rather than a live concert,” said one attendee, a music lover. “Buskers from The Strip would have been a better alternative to these run-of-the-mill entertainers,” said another. As per the committee members, Cultural Secretary Banerjee was sidelined in arranging the evening program finale. Most attendees skipped the show due to delays, and some left a few minutes after the start of the hideous show.
Friends of India is the only local non-profit Indian organization committed to financial transparency by publishing annual financial statements in a Diwali souvenir book. The club took a hit in advertising revenues due to ongoing economic sluggishness. The 2022 book contained 24.5 pages of paid advertising, less than half of the advertisement pages in the 2021 Diwali book. The book highlighted congratulatory messages from a host of elected officials along with the financials for the year ended 2021, showing a net income of $7,444 with a cash balance of $59,514. Compared to the previous years, Diwali event attendance is steadily declining, as the growing community has seen growth in multiple regional clubs with competing festival season activities.
After all, was said and done, except for the dreary inexcusable outside entertainers, the $30 ticket price was the best value in Las Vegas for an evening celebrating the Indian Festival of Lights with friends and family. One attendee noted that the Indian mithai (dessert) box distribution to the attendees celebrating Diwali festivities was inconspicuously missing this year.
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The Indian-American population is growing fast, but the attendance at the Diwali function is less than half of what it used to be a decade ago. The simple reason is, we had incompetent and egoistic presidents and executive members for many years, including the outgoing one. Let’s hope the next one is better. The competition is good. Maybe it will force the performance of the president and the committee to improve.
The cultural program at the Diwali event was excellent with so many talented people displaying very high quality performances. The community should be very proud of having such a large number of talented and enthusiastic participants. It was a great display of diversity in our community. We should continue to encourage such enthusiastic participation. Food quality was very good and despite the very large gathering, food service was very efficient. It was also great to see so many political leaders visiting with our community on this auspicious occasion. FOILV leadership team should be commended for keeping in close contact with the local leaders and showcasing our rich culture to them. Attendance in the musical program was light presumably because it was a very long evening for many families.
The executive committee team and all of the volunteers should be applauded for their hard work and dedication in organizing such a great event. It was truly enjoyable. Unfortunately, there will always be a handful of ‘naysayers’ in almost every community. The team should look at their great accomplishment and continue to stay energized in bringing the community together and organizing great events like the Diwali event. We appreciate your hard work. Bravo!!!
Vegas Desi editor has very well summarized the evening’s proceedings. I just want to add that, general members like me occupying the last row tables could neither listen nor see clearly many cultural performances due to noise in the venue/hall and members of the audience in front of us, including committee members and parents of children, socializing loudly, taking pictures, standing and blocking our view right when performances were on. At the fag end of the program, the cultural secretary assisted by a committee member did control the crowd, but it should/could have been earlier. I wish the committee members note this for future events. If not, that is showing disrespect to the performers and disservice to the audience who come to watch the performance. Thank you committee for your time and efforts to organize the event.
Dear General Member, I agree with your comment that the hall was very noisy during the performances. People should be more respectful to the performers and the organizers. Regarding visibility of the performers, the stage should be more elevated so that peoples’ heads do not block the view for those in the back. Also, I am not sure if the concert with the out of town performers is a value added event due to that fact that the vast majority of the attendees do not stay for it. The executive Committee should consider eliminating this event and use the fund more productively elsewhere. Thank you.
Eliminating the concert will further thin the attendance. Mostly the parents or close friends/relatives of the kids/performers attend the cultural program.
People like me go to see the concert. This time the concert did not start on time. I know a lot of people left after waiting for about an hour.
Communication about the delays or start time would have kept more attendance for the concert.