Federation of Indian Associations-Chicago held a â€˜kick-offâ€™ event for the Independence Day celebration attended by community leaders and Bollywood star Hrishitaa Bhatt, May 3 at Maharaja Restaurant in Rosemont, IL.

After the lighting of the lamp, FIA President Dr Indrajit Patel revealed a series of grand events including the parade, mela, banquet and flag-hoisting ceremony. He said the celebrations will mark a new chapter in the history of FIA.

The parade on Saturday August 15 will be preceded by a Gala Banquet on August 14, at Meadows Club. The Flag-hoisting ceremony will be on August 15 at Daley Plaza at 9.30 am, in partnership with the office of the Consul General.

FIA under the event chair Trustee Iftekhar Shareef, will conclude the festivities with a family-oriented colorful mela complete with music, dances, singing and free samplings of Indian food on Devon Avenue following the conclusion of the Parade.

The meeting began with a silent prayer for the victims of Nepal earthquake. Dr Patel appealed the community organizations to mobilize resources to help the victims.

Hrishitaa Bhatt thanked FIA for the invitation and pledged that she would attend the Parade and the banquet. Bhatt was introduced by FIA Trustee Harish Bhatt.

OP Meena, consul was the guest of honor.

Welcoming the guests, Iftekhar Shareef noted the significant role FIA proactively plays demonstrating a sense of patriotism towards the motherland hosting exciting series of events. He applauded the team spirit of FIA which made it the leading umbrella organization in the Midwest.

Shareef acknowledged Nepali American Sanjay Yadav and assured all help for Nepal for its long term recovery. Dr. Indrajit Patel, Iftekhar Shareef, Babu Patel, Bhaillal Patel, Sohan Joshi and Choksi donated for the cause at the event.

Shareef reminded not to get confused by two individuals who are misleading the community using the FIA- Chicago name and collecting funds. FIA is a brand with a history of 30 years and these people are playing with community sentiments.

Dr. Indrajit Patel announced the chairs of various committees. Smita Shah will chair the parade committee. Raj/Neal Patel- Gala Banquet; Ajai Agnihotri-mela and Ajeeth Singh as co-chair; Iftekhar Shareef-finance; Kanti Patel-parade management/floats; Keerthi Ravoori-media/public relations/souvenir, with Harish Kolasani and Kanti N Patel serving as co-chairs; Babu Patel, chair and Shabbir Patel, co-chair for security arrangements.

Keerthi Ravoori said FIA is the only Midwest community umbrella organization that has the tremendous potential to draw Indian Americans together.

Kanti Patel was the emcee. Dr. Bharat Barai outlined the plans for hosting a painting exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago which he added could potentially bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chicago. Nimesh Jani, Schaumburg Township Trustee offered greetings and pledged to rope in IL Governor Rauner to the Parade.

Among the prominent attendees include Purnima Nath of Milwaukee, Ranjit Ganguly, Vinesh Virani, Anil Pillai, Syed Hussaini, Babu Varma, Chandresh Brahmbhatt, Vandana Walia, Sitaram Patel, Hina Trivedi, Sunny Gabhawala, Vandana Jhingan, Minhaj Akhtar, Vir Doshi, Jitendra Diganvker, Amar Upadhyay and Rohit Joshi.

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FIA-Chicago\\\\\\\'s kick off for I-Day Parade