Thanks to the hard work of the IAGB committee members, the event turned out to be a great success, a crowd puller as well as a crowd pleaser. Although the event was rescheduled, Burlington High was overflowing with Desis of all ages. This year, the event was dedicated to the victims of the deadly Tsunami, and IAGB raised funds to be donated to the cause.

After the Welcome address by the Vice President of IAGB, Mr. Rajini Kanth, the President of IAGB, Dr. Anupam Wali, addressed the audience. Ms. Rota Shah of Saheli spoke about the great work that her organization is involved in. The invocation was presented by Mr. Rajesh Shah. Members of the newly formed IAGB youth Committee sang the American and Indian National Anthems along with children from the Shishubharathi School.

After the national anthems, a short candlelight vigil was held for the cause, including the audience observing a moment of silence. Ranjani Saigal read a touching tribute written by her father Dr. Subrahmonia Ayyar dedicated to memory of the victims and appreciating the help provided by people.

The music segment that followed had talented groups singing scintillating numbers. Suma Manjunath’s group, Sangeetayan, Neelima Chaturvedi’s group, Shuchita Rao’s group and Shrutilaya.

This year, IAGB brought in a new tradition, showcasing the State of Maharstra. They hope to dedicate the program to a different region of India each year during Republic day. This year, NEMM’s Marathi segment including five items (Vasudev, Balya, Lavani, Koli and Song) was easily the highlight of the evening.

Indian Classical Dances from Guru Ranjani Saigal’s “Eastern Rhythms” and Guru Neena Gulati’s “Triveni” showcased intricate footwork while groups from Karnataka (NEKK) and Kerala (NEMA) performed intriguingly authentic regional dances.

The group Lehrein was greeted with warmth, as the IAGB audience was familiar with the high element of fun that Netra Rajinikanth and her troupe of lively dancers bring to the stage every year. They received an extra round of applause for raising around $1500 for the IAGB Tsunami fund. With colorful ribbons of fabric forming a beautiful canopy around them, Guru Jasmine Shah’s students presented a graceful folk dance. All the time, two musical groups Yaadein and Lahiri with DJ Tej were entertaining listeners with the sweetest melodies in the cafeteria.

Young children were enchanted by the Tamil song and dance routine that was choreographed by Ms. Aparna Ram. The students of Satsang Bal Vihar danced to the ever popular and fitting song “I love My India.”

The pace of the evening had suddenly picked up and Sanjeevani Kukreja and her fellow dancers received hearty round of applause when they danced to a medley of Hindi Film songs.

It was finally Bollywood time, and different groups came on stage with foot tapping dances. The groups Sowmaya Chari’s group, Burlington Cultural Club, Sparks, Chingariyan, Rangeela Naseeb, and ShArArAaAaA had the audience up on their feet and dancing while they strutted their stuff.

The grand finale was a high energy Bhangra piece from the talented Lexington Bhangra group, including live dhol and singing.

Chitra Parayath, the Secretary of IAGB offered the vote of thanks, acknowledging the help of Sunita Malhotra and the MCs Girish Vijay Kumar and Anjali Wali in making the show such a success.

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