When Rotarian Caroline Newton came all the way from her home in Nottinghamshire to speak to Leicester Novus Rotary about her support for a charity in Kenya , she was impressed by the diversity of our club and wanted to learn more about Diwali.
The club was really happy when she accepted an invitation to come to Leicester again with her son Tom and his pal Alex to experience their first Diwali Day.
Alex, Tom and Caroline on the Big Wheel
They rode the Big Wheel at the bottom of the so-called Golden Mile in Belgrave where every year about 30,000 people gather to celebrate this great Hindu, Jain and Sikh festival. They were amazed by the range of the icons of deities for sale.
At Mirch Masala, the Belgrave Road restaurant owned by Novus president Pradeep Popat, they were joined by Rotarian Sarita Shah for their first experience of Paneer and other delicious dishes. After a quick visit to the Diwali village in Cosington Street park, they returned to the Golden Mile to see the spectacular fireworks before going to the nearby home of Sarita’s family who gave them more delicious savouries and sweets.
Sarita with Tom, Alex, Caroline and Jim in The Golden Mile
In a message received later Caroline thanked Sarita, Pradeep and Jim Matthews, and said that she, Tom and Alex had really enjoyed their first Diwali and the tastes and hospitality of India.
The evening was a useful opportunity for Caroline and Sarita to meet again… when Caroline visited the club in August, she talked about leading a group to Kinjai, near the Meru National Park in Kenya and Sarita hopes to go to help the Friends of Kianjai Kenya
Pradeep, Sarita and Jim were delighted to extend the hand of Rotary fellowship to Caroline, a member of Grantham Kesteven Rotary Club and would always be happy to welcome other visitors — Rotarians or not — to any of our meetings. Please visit our Programme page if you would like to join us for a meeting or a meal.
