Diwali Mela with Sukhwinder Singh and Jaspinder Narula
Thousands of people screamed with passion for a glimpse of the popular talents of the film industry, Mickey Narula, Jaspinder Narula and Sukhwinder Singh who performed with exceptional enthusiasm at the Diwali Mela 2004, organized and funded by Indian-American Community Service Association on November 6th 2004 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View
There were over 50 stalls of Indian as well as American items such as jewelry, clothes and food.
A large number of people roamed around in groups from one stall to another, checking out some of the traditional and exquisite Indian Items.
People satisfied their hunger with Chaat Papdi, Cholay Bhaturey, Samosas, Aloo Tikki, Dosas etc. with chai to add to the taste as well as to keep warm in the cold weather.
While the elders munched on food, kids enjoyed the various rides and games, which added to the idea of a typical Diwali Mela.
“I feel like I am in India, it’s awesome. I am so nostalgic,” exclaimed Gaurav Sharma, from bollywoodmantra.com.
The main attractions of the mela were the performances by world-renowned talents of the Indian Film Industry.
The show consisted of breathtaking performances by Parvati and Kamran who performed a fusion dance. Jasjeet Saini was another performer who danced authentically on the super hit song, in hi logon ne. At this time, the crowd was settling down in their seats.
California Souls, led by the main artist 24 Karat, delivered another mind-boggling piece of techno dance mixed with astounding stunts and remarkable rapping.
Thereafter, Ashwini Bhakhri, chairman of the Indian-American Community Service Association and a leading attorney, gave a brief introduction of the event and promised the audience that Jaspinder Narula, Mickey Narula and Sukhwinder Singh will be performing as the show progresses.
Soon after the introduction, arrived Mickey Narula, Jaspinder Narula’s younger brother and a budding music director.
Mickey cracked a few jokes and then went on to doing a “voice check” before he performed as there were a few technical glitches.
The show progressed on with Mickey’s first song performance; nikamma kiya is dil ne which was followed by chali chali, after which he assured that he would sing a Punjabi song to keep the balance for the hindi as well as punjabi audience.
As promised, the next series of songs were punjabi. As the crowd warmed up, Mickey stepped down from the stage several times to dance with the audience. In addition, he threw out CDs and audiocassettes.
He seemed to woo the audience by singing the song that he as well as the audiences appeared to love, khaike paan banaras wala.
“We were dancing at the back, it was fun,” said Venu Bhakhri.
After his performance, Mickey introduced his sister, Jaspinder Narula and requested her to step on the stage.
Jaspinder came on the stage with a pleasing smile on her face and a sensational voice. Along with her came the much awaited fireworks that lasted for about a minute.
“The fireworks were fantastic. They added to the true essence of Diwali,” said Sunil Prabhakar.
The first song that Jaspinder sang was O tashi anata, which was her debut song in the Indian Film Industry. She was also trying to set equilibrium between the Hindi and Punjabi communities by singing song in the respective languages, alternatively.
After O tashi anata, Jaspinder sang Munda tu hai punjabi sona adding “I am singing this song for my munda punjabi sona who’s sitting in Calgary.”
Mickey later joined Jaspinder in singing songs like no.1 Punjabi and a medley that was a mixture of some fast paced Punjabi and Hindi songs. They also sang a kawali together, from the album, which was a tribute from Jaspinder to Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Jaspinder called the people who are a part of the Indian-American Community Service Association and had worked hard on putting this event together in just six weeks. She thanked them as well as the audience for their support.
After Jaspinder and Mickey exited the stage, there was a singing performance by Sunny, a growing singer.
Many people started leaving by then, losing the patience and hope for Sukhwinder Singh to show up. But they were assured once again by the chairman, Ashwini Bhakhri that Sukhwinder Singh will be on the stage very soon.
And so he was. The spectators were delighted to see Sukhwinder Singh who entertained them with some of the best songs from his collection such as Ban than chali dekho, gash khake, naach meri jaan and layi vi na gayi.
The audience was on its feet all through Sukhwinder’s performance and the ground shook with their excitement. He even obliged his fans by coming down the stage to meet them. The thrill was limitless.
Along with Sukhwinder came Sujata who does stage shows around the world and is known for singing remixed songs. She delivered an amazing performance with the song Dhoom Machale. She also supported Sukhwinder in the songs ban than and naach meri jaan.
The funds from this show are to go towards the Sudan crisis where thousands of children have died. Ashwini Bhakhri encouraged the audience to donate as much as they can for this cause and we, the team of Bollywood Mantra encourage you to do the same. Please contact us if you would like to lend a helping hand.
Mr. Bhakhri even announced that Indian-American Community Service Association will be having more shows in the future and that the audience should be ready for them. So, we can definitely hope for more magnificent entertainment in the future. Watch out for it!
