The City Hindus Network (“CHN”) celebrated its annual Diwali Ball in support of the UK military charity, Help for Heroes, at the Radisson Blu Portman in London’s West End on Thursday 13 November 2014, with this year’s festivities attended by a number of special guests and performers.
Co- presented by the Chairman of the CHN, Prinal Nathwani, and the Project Team Lead, Shefali Davda, the CHN Diwali Ball 2014 attracted 180 professionals from a range of backgrounds. Backed by the rest of the CHN team and the CHN Advisory Board, comprising of Jitesh Gadhia, Senior Managing Director at The Blackstone Group; Nishma Gosrani, Director at Deloitte consulting; Alpesh Patel, Founder Principal of Praefinium Partners; and Punam Denley, partner at Blanchards Law, the hosts guided attendees through an evening of classical and contemporary entertainment, great food and a number of invigorating and powerful addresses.
Attendees were first addressed by the Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP, Minister of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Member of Parliament for West Suffolk. Matthew emphasised the importance of the Hindu community’s contribution to British society, urging those in attendance to take a more active role in civic society and using their abilities and the messages so ingrained in Hindu philosophy to make a change.
A number of other eminent personalities, both in politics and the wider community, also addressed attendees on the evening, reiterating the ever-important message of community engagement. Lord Dolar Popat of Harrow, the Hon Shailesh Vara MP and Manoj Ladwa, Founder of MLS Chase Group and Communications Liaison for the highly successful election campaign of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, all further stressed the importance of getting young people out there and making use of their skills.
Focus was placed by Lord Popat and the Hon Shailesh Vara MP on how organisations such as CHN provide an inspiration to young Hindus to engage in civic work, with Lord Popat highlighting how the CHN itself has inspired young Hindus to stand up and get involved in making a change and also to be recognised for their contribution they make to society (with 3 young Hindus choosing to get involved in politics after the CHN Diwali Dinner hosted by Lord Popat at the House of Lords in 2013).
Nishma Gosrani, CHN Advisory Board member and winner of a number of prestigious business awards also took the stage, noting that “as 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Hindus we have succeeded in almost every industry; manufacturing, steel, food and beverages, textiles and are now making our mark (in often all white boardrooms) - through senior and c-suite positions across the banks, law firms and professional services firms. We now need to make the same contribution in public life; in the chambers of the Houses of Parliament, in our armed battalions, in our fighter jets and our naval ships”.
In addition to unique stalls and an address by James Burns, representative from Help for Heroes, attendees were treated to a range of entertainment, in the form of classical dancing and more contemporary pieces, with the ever-famous Navin Kundra headlining on the evening.
CHN Chairman Prinal Nathwani concluded, “the dedication of key members of the team in bringing this event together has been inspiring, with many of the committee having a number of late nights to ensure everything runs smoothly. Events such as this are great not only in bringing people together, but also in ensuring that key messages such as those highlighted by the key speakers above are relayed effectively and can indeed inspire change”.