Sydney Sakhis celebrate a royal ladies day out!

It was a glamourous afternoon at the Croatian Club in Punchbowl. While the winter sun was shining outside, inside the club all the Indian ladies were dazzling in their colourful traditional outfits. They had to as it was the annual Sakhi celebration – time to celebrate friendship, womanhood, dress up and dance!

Organised by Sakhi Sangam fans Natasha Khushalani, Vidhisha Khetwani, Ekta Nankani, Malti Kumar and Esha Sharma, this year’s event was renamed to Sakhi celebrations. Under the guidance of the annual organiser Nandini Thadani, the five friends got together over coffee and designed the same event but with a slight twist.

The result was the ‘Umrao Jaan’ theme as it reflected feminism, art, dancing, singing and delicacy of indian women. The ladies left no stone unturned and were dressed in heavy anarkalis, suits, shararas and ghagras complimented with matching jewellery. After all it was the time to flaunt their exquisite outfits and show off their nawabi style.

Hosted by energetic MC Shallu Kundra, the event was brightened up by performances from Vaijanti group, Bhangra group, Cheeky group of entertainment and the graceful Rita Malik who performed on the evergreen song ‘Aankhon ki masti’. Once the performances finished, the dance floor was flooded by the ladies dancing to latest Bollywood songs and the dhol beats. The jhatkas, the dhoomkas, the matkas, the ghagras swirling – you could see all as the ladies danced with gay abandon!

And which ladies event is incomplete without tambola? Tambola, lucky draw and lots of prizes sponsored by Taj, Cinestar and Raj Khanna’s Bollywood Club. Desi Australia made every lady a star as they got a chance to get their photo clicked on the red carpet. For the shopping lovers, there were stalls of henna, clothes, jewellery and beauty products. It was a sold out event with 600 ladies enjoying the fun and food.

What else can a woman ask for? One day where she is away from her household chores and family duties, gets pampered and giggles with her girlfriends. With smiles galore, Sakhi celebrations gave the ladies the best gift on Friendship Day.