What a show it was on Sunday 18th November.  The audience spell bound as children from the Milton Keynes Gujarati School opened the Diwali Show in spectacular style.  Dhols (Minesh Morjaria and Vishal Bhatt) beating as they came in a procession of lights, divas glittering as the children made their gracious way through the audience.  Once on stage - in unison the reverence of a beautiful 'Prathna' for world peace.  This year happened to be unique in that not only was the MK Hindu Association celebrating Diwali, it was also celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Independence of India and, the 40th Birthday of the town of Milton Keynes itself.

This annual gala event began with the national anthems of both Great Britain and India.  Standing to attention on stage - were the pupils of the Gujarati School, in the auditorium - the whole audience.  This was quickly followed with a variety of dances performed by some accomplished young artists.  Some like Poornima Ramesh (9) coming on stage with the flair and confidence of a star in the making performed a Karagatham folk and Bharatnatyam dance in Tamil.

Interval was an event in itself.  The Milton Keynes Hindu Association actually served in excess of 800 people in less than 30 minutes with light refreshments and drinks.  Now that is what is called - excellence and efficiency.

The Second half started with the same fan fare from the Dhol players.  The rhythm was hypnotic and led all the audience to their seats, eager for what was to come their way in terms of a musical and sight extravaganza. Ramakrishna Gande, originally from Hyderabad in India came on stage - dressed in the full costume and style required for the famous 'Kuchi Pudi' dance.  The unique Carnatic music followed a dance exhibition of utter brilliance.  The vast majority of the crowd had not seen such skill and emotive dance visualisation before and by the pin drop silence - yes, every eye was on capturing this unique performance.

Honey's Dance Academy dancers entered thereafter and left the audience amazed with their level of skill and variety of movement and steps. A stunning performance in quality, in colour, in splendour and of course, fun. By this time - the audience were all almost on the edge of their seats - not knowing what was about to happen next.  Their wait was over when the curtains opened they found Honey on stage - but not dancing.  No folks, Honey had decided to conduct an interactive dance and music dialogue with the audience.  Members of the audience were encouraged to come on stage and learn how to dance in 10mins, the Honey way.  Even the Mayor of MK  Cllr Mike Barry joined in the fun that followed.

The show climaxed with the arrival on stage of the one and only, Honey Kalaria.  Honey who is renowned for her energy and exceptional dancing - took over the stage with ease. Every eye on her, every beat anticipated and every tune hummed and tapped to.  What a performance - the icing on the cake of a show that brought all Hindus together and celebrate Diwali in style.

Roshan Bhabutta, President of MKHA said, 'I am proud of every act that has performed.  They have given such great joy to all of us and we should salute the talent that is within our community.  A great Diwali Show, a tremendous start to our New Year'.

Comments that were echoed by the guest of honour - the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.  Ms Amanda Nicholson who added, 'The show was sheer delight, an inspirational celebration of cultural identity in our multi-faceted society and an expression of great joy and optimism at this dark time of year'.

I am really impressed that children as young as 5 can remember very intricate and a long set of dance movements and perform, apparently fearlessly, in front of an audience of nearly 1,000 people in a large theatre. The growing diversity of the city will mean that all of us, whatever our background, will have more opportunities to enjoy other cultures in the future,' commented Isobel McCall the Leader of MK Council.

Adding to this, Ramesh Kallidai the Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain said, 'MKHA is an inspiration to everyone.  This small and emerging community has united and are building the Hindu Elders Housing project, and are also raising funds now to build the first Hindu Community Centre in MK. I commend this project to everyone for their support in every way possible.'

"This year's Diwali Show was the best yet. I particularly enjoyed the mix of traditional dances from the different regions and the modern Bollywood routines. Persuading the Mayor to demonstrate his Bollywood skills was a particular highlight. The participation of Honey Kalaria and Ramesh Kallidai from the Hindu Forum of Britain confirms the high-standing of the Milton Keynes Hindu Community at a national level, and I am sure this event will go from strength to strength and will become an unmissable part of the Milton Keynes calendar."  Dr Phyllis Starkey MP

The show ended with an awards ceremony where all the artists were honoured as well as some key individuals who had given sterling service to the community.  For the first time special commendation cups were presented for outstanding service to the community.  The first recipients being Mr Vinodbhai Pandya, Mrs Daiben Mistry and from the junior section, Shona Shah (10).  Milton Keynes is a new town, it has a thriving Hindu community that has a great vision, and a real sense of wanting to make progress and to be integral in the very success of the town.  For further information on the show, the Community Centre project or should you wish to make a personal donation to this most worthy cause, please log onto to www.mkha.org.  Diwali MK style - 2008 coming soon - look out for the information and book your tickets early to avoid disappointment.