United Indian Associations Inc celebrated the Indian Republic Day on 28th of Jan 05 at Nilla reception lounge, 357 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield. The event was well attended and was a great success. Once again, UIA under the leadership of Dr. Siddalingeswara Orekondy and his team had demonstrated its commitment to the Indian community.
The following dignitaries were in attendance:
- Mr. M. Ganapathi, Consul General of India
- Hon Peter McGauran, Federal Minister for Citizenship & Multicultural Affairs
- Mr. John Murphy, Federal Member of Lowe
- Mr Jim O'Callaghan, NSW State Director for Immigration
Our special thanks to Mr. John Murphy who took time off from the crucial caucus meeting in Canberra and flew to Sydney to attend this function for an hour and then return back to Canberra.
Lalli Sethuram, Secretary of UIA welcomed the distinguished guests, members and friends. It was then taken over by Dr. Prabhat Sinha, Vice President of UIA and Master of Ceremony for the night. The program started with "One Minute" observance of silence in memory of Tsunami Victims.
The Republic Day celebrations and the evening gala commenced with the invocation Bharat Natyam dance gracefully performed by Ms. Hema Prakash.
Dr. Orekondy, President of UIA in his Presidential address acknowledged and thanked the sponsors, UIA Fair committee members, stall holders, cultural team, volunteers, whose valuable contributions, led to the success of UIA Independence Fair 2004 held at the Sydney Athletic centre, Sydney Olympic Park on 08th August 2004.
Hon. Minister Peter McGauran in his address to the gathering had admired the Indian community at large in Australia which has the lowest unemployment and crime rates and the highest assimilation rate in the wider community. He spoke about the rich contribution Indian migrants have made to this multicultural country.
Hon. Consul General Mr. Ganapathi thanked Australia for their generosity in raising funds for victims of Tsunami. He also spoke about the latest development on the Indian dual citizenship issue.
Hon. Minister Peter McGauran launched the UIA web site, which was developed by Mr. Vikram Bekal and Mr Onkaraswamy Goppenalli.
All Presidents of UIA member organisations were invited on to the dais and were introduced to Hon. Minister Peter McGauran. This has reinforced the solidarity and commitment of the member organization towards UIA.
The evening entertainment began with a brilliant demonstration of Tabla by shri Pandit Suman. The audience were dazzled and enthralled with his masterpiece performance. Mrs. Yvonne O'Callaghan honoured Shri Pandit Suman with a bouquet of flowers for his delighted performance of the evening.
The Karaoke entertainment began patriotic songs of Mukesh and Kishore Kumar. Followed by variety of songs (old and new) of Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Lata, Geetha Dutt, Asha. The entertainment was presented by:
- Kedarnath
- Manjari Kulkarni
- Dr. Vijay Kumar
- Geetha Gopinath
Thanks to Mukti-Gupteshwar Mandir for providing shri Anup Jalotajis Republic day song which was really
appreciated by the audience.
Spicy Affair provided the function with sumptous dinner which had variety of entrees and main couses followed by excellent desert, thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The function ended with Bhangara music, which brought every one to the dance floor.
Needless to say that the success of the function is possible only for the tireless effort of the people behind the scenes. UIA GC conveys this special thanks to Mr. Deepak Kumar, Sreenadh Brahmapuram, Mr.Onkaraswamy Gopenhalli for their efforts in organising the event. Our thanks to Sam Swaminathan, Krishnamurthy, Rohitas Battas who assisted event management, publicity etc. Special thanks to Kedarnath for organising the cultural entertainment for the evening.
Finally, our sincere thanks for the sponsors and the audience whose participation had made this event a great success.
