PEACH WEEKENDER

Around Town: January 2

rom left, Adrian Wright, Kaye Patten Wallace, Amanda Bryant-Friedrich and Klaus Friedrich at the Alpha Phi Boule Christmas party at Brandywine Country Club in Maumee Dec. 6.

The New Year is finally here and the holiday season is now but a fond memory still fresh in our minds.

Be sure to read my Sunday On the Town column for a review of New Year’s Eve parties.

Raj Thapar and wife Rama hosted a celebration of the Hindu Festival of Lights.

MOST LIKELY the first holiday gathering of the season was the brunch on Nov. 3 hosted by Raj and Rama Thapar of Ottawa Hills at Inverness Club for family and friends from Toledo and Detroit areas. It was in celebration of Diwali, a five day Hindu Festival of Lights. The holiday, also known as Deepavali, is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains, said Mrs. Thapar.

It celebrates the end of harvest season and the beginning of the new financial year for Indian businesses, but most significant is spiritual awareness of the inner light. Fire crackers are lit to drive away evil spirits and small clay lamps filled with oil are lit to signify the triumph of good over evil, she said. Celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.

Among the 180 guests were Neerja and Steeve Jindal of Ottawa Hills; Jyoti Chakravarty, Rama and Raju Shah, Anita and Prem Tandon, Beverly and Ron Rego of Sylvaniam, Kiron Torsekar of Holland, Usha and Ramesh Verma of Novi, Mich., Lachman Jindal of Farmington Hills, Mich., Harcharan Duggal of Rochester Hills, Mich., Jagdish Janveja of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Azia and Richard Kastura of Temperance, Mich.