Fourteenth Annual Karuna Diwali Ball

On Sunday, November 13, 2010 Washingtonians attended Karuna Charities Washington Inc.’s annual Grand Diwali Gala. The popularity of this annual event has grown remarkably over the years.

Ms. Nilima Mehra, Mistress of ceremonies introduced Ms. Amrit Kalotra, President of Karuna Charities as well as the board members. The Diwali lamp was lit by the Keynote Speaker, Mr. John Ruffina, Executive Director, Northern Virginia Community College and Ms. Sukriti Likhi, Economic Counsellor, Embassy of India.

The lighting of the lamp was followed by an elegant Gujarati folk dance and graceful Bollywood medley by talented students of the Kalanjali School of Folk and Bollywood Dances. The dances were beautifully choreographed by Ms. Priti Vasadeva. The youthful performers were: Margi Desai, Anjali Vyas, Shruti Shah, Mekhala Rao, Nandini Kishore, Isha Sharma, Aneksha Sinha, Rushvi Majumdar, Madhurya Mahajan, and Aashvi Vasavada.

Karuna President, Ms. Amrit Kalotra gave a welcome address and thanked the audience and sponsors for supporting Karuna Charities. She spoke about the community service efforts that Karuna had carried out during the year, the three endowed scholarship programs established (in NVCC, Montgomery College and UDC) and the close collaboration between Karuna and the Abused Persons Program, Montgomery County, MD. 

Karuna auctioned an Air India ticket. The ticket went to the highest bidder, Ms. Nikki Lodha from HSBC Bank.

The Talent Contest has become a highly anticipated Karuna event where the audience is the judge.  The talent contest was conducted and organized by Vice Presidents, Ms. Kanti Singh and Ms. Sujata Avasthi.

Female singers participated in Part I of the contest followed by a song by Ms. Mansi Gupta, winner of the 2010 Talent Contest (Female).

Male contestants sang in the Part II of the talent contest followed by a song by Mr. Vidya Sagar, winner of the 2010 Talent Contest (Male).

The winners of the talent contest were: Ms. Vohra and Mr. Simha.

The raffle draw was a success thanks to the generous prizes donated by Bombay Tandoor, Holiday Inn (Gaithersburg), the Law office of Raja Bhandari, and Gold City Jewelers. 

Secretary, Ms Promila Banik concluded the evening with a warm vote of thanks.  The night ended with a deliciously catered dinner by Mrs. Rani Varma’s ever popular Bombay Tandoor restaurant.  DJ Hemant Kumar and party rocked the audience with live music and popular tunes.  

The brochure was designed by Sangita Kalotra and Puneet Sharma and produced by NOVA Printing and Graphics.

The Diwali committee that created this magical event in 2012 was composed of the following dedicated ladies: Amrit Kalotra, President; Kanti Singh, Vice President; Jasbir Sethi, Vice President and Treasurer; Sujata Avasthi, Vice President; Bina Dhir, Joint Treasurer; Promila Banik, Secretary; Savita Malhotra, Secretary; Mara Puri, Karuna Ambassador; and Rohini Khera, Karuna Ambassador. 

Karuna thanks you for your support and looks forward to seeing you at the 2012 Diwali Gala!