Thousands Celebrate Masala Radio’s Houston Diwali Mela
HOUSTON: Thousands celebrated Diwali @ Masala Radio’s HOUSTON DIWALI MELA last Saturday. In a freak coincidence, it turned into a double celebration as midway through the event the Houston Astros won the World Series! Traffic stowed along Highway 6 to admire the 4 story Giant Ferris Wheel, and stopped completely when the Grand Finale Fireworks went off to the crazy beats of popular Bollywood music.
Masala Radio 98.7 FM celebrated Diwali with its extremely strong following with this FREE event at the West Oaks Mall Grounds on SAT NOV 5th, 6-11PM…and what a Mela it was! More than 12,000 people attended this Diwali mela and enjoyed the celebration in the amazing cool weather.
Madhvi Kumar who reached the venue at 9 pm said “the entire parking was full and I had to park across the street. I have been to most Diwali events in Houston and I’ve never seen so many different things going on and so many people. It was spectacular. It felt like a big Bollywood festival.” HGH Director Vijay Pallod said “When I reached the event, I was surprised to see such a large crowd and the giant LED screens. My favorite part was seeing Amitabh Bachchan dancing with President Biden.” Neha Sanghvi said “I just moved this year from Los Angeles, and I have to say Houston has one of the most dynamic Indian communities. I’ve never been to an event like this. Music, dances, fireworks, and the riskshaw rides. It was magical. It felt like a mini Coachella with the giant Ferris wheel.”
Sandhya Thakkar said “We want to thank the West Oaks Management for letting us host the event here! The support we received from our community was amazing.” Sunil Thakkar added “This last year was good for some but challenging for many people. That is why we with our sponsors’ support decided: no ticket nor parking fees. Seeing the love and happiness that families enjoyed together was priceless! I want to thank all attendees, performers, sponsors, volunteers, vendors, our Masala team, and above all Goddess Laxmi for blessing us with beautiful weather.”
The heartbeat of the festival was the non-stop entertainment on stage featuring the most talented local singers, dance schools, fashion show and even a hilarious comedy skit featuring Amitabh Bachchan and President Joe “Bhaiden.” Dance Schools included (in alphabetical order): Any1 Can Dance, Bollywood Dancing Stars, Desi Beats, Funtastic Bollywood Dance & Yoga, Infused Performing Arts, Katak Nritya Kala Kendra, Rhythm India, and Roarin Raas. Infused also performed the breathtaking Pushpa musical. Shots of singers kept the variety between dances, starting with Sunil Mishra singing a Kishore Medley, Nabeel Lakhani shot a live music video of his hit “Tum“, Shayan had the ladies swooning with Arijit numbers, and the finale Joe Paras singing popular Punjabi dance hits. Fashion Show by Zakia featured outfits by Venu Gaba highlighting the latest Flare Pants & Cholis, One-Shoulder, Capes, Kaftans, and Gold Embroidered Men’s short sherwanis. Every ten minutes the scene changed on stage, if you blinked you missed something really cool! 2 LED Robots led the crowd in dancing for the Ramji Rave with DJ Nish mixing Bollywood & EDM music.
A big thanks to all the major sponsors Houston Diwali for making this a free event – Discount Power, Amir Dodhiya, Arshad Ramji, Nitya Capital, Jindal Saw, Royal Basmati, Deep Foods, Theramedic Rehab, Texans Minerals, Perez Jasani, Bob’s Lounge, Aziz Panjwani, Arabian Night, Javed Meghani, Taj Momin, Shabana Motors, Dr Freemu Varghese, Travel Guzs, George Willy, and Hindus of Greater Houston, in addition to over 50 individual & corporate sponsors. Food Booths were serving amazing Indian street foods non-stop – Mirch Masala, Honest Rest, Bawarchi, Gayatri Bhavan, and Ghanshyam Caterers. Dharmik Brahmbhatt of Honest said “from 8pm – 10:30pm, the rush was so crazy that we couldn’t even look up. This was our first festival and it was a huge hit for us. ” Indeed the long lines at Honest proved that word about their famous pav bhaji got around fast! This year was a record-breaking Diwali Bazaar mostly filled with women entrepreneurs selling fashions, jewelry, home décor and event decor. The lights from the stage reached deep into the clouds. It was a magical mystical evening full of love, excitement, and celebration. Masala Radio rocked with its biggest Diwali celebration in Houston.
Special thanks to the entire Crazy Masala Crew!! Office: Rinku, Priya, Rishi, Chaitali, Aahil. Radio Jockeys: Preanka, Rajoo, Dilip, Priya Pyari P, Ina, Pankti, Swati, Amit, Anees, Shivangi, Rishi, Vyoma, Jigzz. Event: Ruchir, Ninad, Bhavisha, Alisha, Suji, Mrugesh, Dinesh, Sohail, Sangeeta, Haroon,, Yumna, Josh, Sahil, Vinay, Josh & DJ Nish. Photos & Videos by Gaurav Hariyani Studios & Dario. Pictures on FB / IG masalaradio98.7FM or www.masalaradio.com.
