Colorful Musical Stage Show Draws in Crowd for ICC’s IFest!
India Culture Center’s Board of Directors share the podium at IFest 24.
By Jawahar Malhotra
ICC leadership with student scholarship award winners.
STAFFORD, TX: In a case of déjà vu all over again, after last year’s programs, the India Culture Center delivered a repeat entertaining performance of iFest24 this year after another less than captivating event for Republic Day in January. And in both cases, the common denominator appears to be the venue that held the crowd in their seats.
In both years, the ICC’s Republic Day programs were held in the cavernous GSH Event Center on West Bellfort and the Beltway while the Indian Independence Day programs were held in the smaller but more intimate Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road. Another metric to go by is the near capacity parking lot this past Saturday, August 17 as a constant stream of an estimated 2,000 people came to Stafford to mingle and be entertained.
And the non-stop entertainment – after the speeches and awards – from 3 to 7 pm was what kept all the seats taken, with others stood along the edges, taking in the music, dance, songs and fashion show set to funky videos on the jumbotron stage backdrop.
ICC dignitaries with Lachman Das who sponsored a scholarship with $100,000 endowment in honor of his late wife Lalitha
The main event space had a thick crowd of spectators flowing through the tightly packed room, meandering through the 50 vendor booths on the fringes. IFest started at 1 pm, but by 3pm there was already standing room only even as friends and acquaintances ran into each other and exchanged pleasantries.
Free parking and free entry also helped to draw in the crowd to see multiple stage shows, featuring local performers, young and old, 25 dances, singing and acting (including a skit produced by the versatile actor and thespian Bud Patel). The event was emceed by Bud Patel, Naeem Vehvaria, Sunaina and Jasmeeta Singh.
They had a chance to hear speeches by Indian Consul General D. C. Manjunath and proclamations by local elected officials like Congressman Al Green; Ft Bend County Judge K.P. George; Ft Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers; Stafford Mayor Ken Mathew, as well as candidates vying for political office like Taral Patel, Eric Fagan and several Republican hopefuls like Marshall Slot
Among the awards was one for Outstanding Community Service Award to Col. Vipin Kumar and Sushma Pallod. A special award was given to my dear mother Shakuntla Malhotra – known affectionately as “Mama” by one and all – for her affection, blessings and support for the ICC.
The Bhalla Outstanding Student Scholarship (BOSS) $5,000 award, given out every year at the event since 2021, was handed out for outstanding scholastic performance to Arnav Adhikari. Ananya Posunari received a $1,000 award, sponsored by ICC President Parul Fernandes. Also Sara Essa and Anvitha Kondapi each were presented with $1,250 awards, sponsored by ICC Chief Trustee Pramod Bengani and previous Presidents Rajiv Bhavsar, Swapan Dhairyawan and Charlie Patel and current President Parul Fernandes.
The ICC announced a new scholarship initiated by a $100,000 endowment from previous President and Trustee Lachmann Das – and named for his late wife Lalitha Das – for girls wanting to major in STEM studies.
ICC previous President Jasmeeta Singh, a veteran of many community staged events and fashion shows, once again chaired this well received IFest with her band of volunteer Board Directors Seema Jain, Dr. Hina Azim, Dr. KD Upadhaya, Sangeeta Dhargan, Hemant Patel, Phani Kondapi, Uma Mantravadi, Juli Mathew, Gaurav Jhaveri and Santosh Verma.
Photos: Unique Photo Images