Gujarati Samaj of Houston Hosts Enthusiastic Celebration of New Year
By Girish Naik
HOUSTON: The Gujarati Samaj of Houston has been celebrating all major Hindu festivals – Holi, Navaratri, Diwali – since 1979. The main objective of the founders of the GSH is to promote and pass on our rich heritage to the coming generations. But at the same time, the GSH also takes on celebrations of western events such Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve.
This year’s New Year Party, attended by 425 members of GSH and their guests, was held at the GSH Event Center on December 31, 2024, from 7:30 PM onwards. The ticket included appetizers, two complementary tickets for alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, munchies and a full Punjabi buffet dinner and party favors. Dance music was provided by one of the best DJ’s in town, DJ – Nish who played hits all the way to the countdown to the New Year 2025. Three prizes were given for the best couple and best dance moves.
The program started at 7.30 pm with the arriving guests taking a photo at the main entrance under an arch of colorful ballons and décor reading Welcome 2025. After the members were signed in and given their tickets for drinks, they were free to mingle with drinks, appetizers and munchies. Light instrumental music played in the background. After an hour of networking and mingling, DJ – Nish took over and opened the dance floor for all the couples with three slow moving dance songs before diving into the fast songs. This is greatly appreciated by the couples as it gave them time to closely dance with their partners. The younger crowd went into action as soon as the fast songs started. DJ – Nish had a lot of mixed songs for the younger crowd as well as the older members.
This year we had a good response from the younger generation as the number of New Year parties in the town was limited and the GSH party’s tickets were very economically priced. Once the dance floor started it never stopped until the countdown to the New Year. While the dancing was going on, the buffet dinner was also open for anyone who was feeling hungry. Aat the countdown, pop-up confetti was burst into the air welcoming 2025, followed by a champagne toast, welcome hugs and everyone wishing each other the very best for 2025.
The GSH cannot do such a huge celebration without the support of the members and our sponsors. The GSH thanks Grand Sponsor Co-America Bank, Parvez Jasani and Brijesh Chaudhari; Platinum Sponsor Laxmi; Gold Sponsor Majestic Developers; Silver Sponsors Amin Realty, Dwija Financial LLC/Dabhi Construction, Tara Capital; Bronze sponsors Texas Hindu Camp site, Vijay and Sushma Pallod, Bhutada Foundation, Subhlaxmi Grocers, ABC Travels, SK Insurance, N&M Foundation and Sheena Consulting. The vegetarian food was from Jai Bhavani and non-vegetarian food was catered from Shahi Darbar Halal restaurant. Media partners are Masala Radio and Indo American News.
Last but not the least, GSH thanks the entire three committees of Gujarati Samaj of Houston, all the community volunteers who put in a lot of hours to make this event so successful.