It all started with a simple thought to have the alumni meet on a casual note with their families and have fun. A meeting was facilitated by Sunil Nagpal the event coordinator to plan the event. Sanjay Dani helped in the initial planning, but had to drop off because of a family emergency. At the initial meeting Madhur Maheshwari volunteered to co-ordinate the events, Ranjan Goel volunteered to coordinate the menu selection and the invitation and Narendra Agrawal for the communication committee. The hard work and the planning paid off, when there was an excellent show of alumni and everyone enjoyed the event.

Many thanks to the friends and their families for making the first Silicon Valley Diwali event successful. Of course it did not hurt to have a perfect weather and a perfect location to picnic. It was an honor to have alumni right from 1969 batch (Commander Umeshsaroj Gupta) all the way through 2004 batch – Love Kothari. Jai Omji graced the occasion and Kamal Bhadha came all the way from San Diego for this event.

The families enjoyed the fun and festivities as they mingled amongst old friends and explored fond memories of the BHU days. Some were busy playing cricket while others played volley ball (thanks to GK Raj and Vijay Panyala). The registration of the event was accompanied by raffle tickets and samosas were served. In all over one hundred people were present at the event which was enjoyed by both adults and kids alike.

The potluck lunch comprised of delicious food diligently prepared by the families of alums and was shared in the spirit of Diwali. The families introduced themselves using the very useful mega phone ;-) thanks to G K Raj. Raj and Ambrish introduced each other in a very unique way. The food logistics was very well organized by Ranjan Goel and his wife Geetika Goel – kudos great job there.

This was followed by the fun events for both the adults and the kids. Aparna Maheshwari and Aarti Nagpal did an excellent job with entertaining and organizing activities and events for kids of all ages. Sunehri (Giri Bajpe’s) daughter won the ping pong game, while other kids took home prizes for the lemon race and tennis ball race. Madhur Maheshwari, the chief event organizer moderated the adult events. Of course the winner of ALL adult events was no other than our senior most member – Commander Umeshsaroj Gupta (after a tough fight with Jai Omji. So that is how long you have to wait to be in the winners circle!

In addition there were pleasant surprises all along with sukha paan by Dhaval and the awesome Sher-Shayari (not the one you are thinking from Holi festival at Banaras ;-) ) by Commander Umeshsaroj Gupta and Lalmani Prasad.
Thanks to the event organizer, Madhur and Aparna Maheshwari, for well planned and fun events and activities. Thanks to Ranjan and Geetika Goel for managing the invitations and the delicious menu items for the event. A special thanks to Sunil and Aarti Nagpal for coordinating the successful event. Hope these fun times keep coming more often. Hope to have a ski trip / Holy celebration / Boating at Shoreline or Lake Elizabeth for the next event and see you more often.

A couple photographs from the event can be found here.

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Sunil Nagpal