Viva Las Vegas is what I think you call a Birthday Party like this.

Anil, celebrated his 30th Birthday in style.

Check it out… (click the images to enlarge).

The Mataji na Lota ceremony can take place for many reasons, a new member to the family such as a daughter-in-law to bring blessings to a new couple. During the first pregnancy (also known as ‘Khoro’) to bring blessings upon the baby inside it’s mother. Other religious reasons such as when a boy has his Janoi, or to bring a family wishes of good fortune in health and studies.

On this occasion the Mataji na Lota were celebrated purely for the joy and love of Mataji on behalf of Thakkar Parivar.

More photos to follow…

The beautifully decorated display of Mataji na 24 Lota, taking center stage in the hall.

A total of 36 cars, with many more members from all over the UK arrived in their vehicles, and packed out the Ace Cafe car parking area.

In my opinion, this has got to be one of the largest turn-outs for the first official meet held at Ace Cafe, for a club that only began building its membership foundation less than a year ago.

Details for the next meet can be found in the Ace Cafe Calendar or here, so if you didn’t get a chance to make it to this one, there’s always next time.
Sign up to the club and send in your registration number, to guarantee yourself a spot at the front of the Ace Cafe.
You can also find the Outlaw Jap Club at their website http://www.outlawjapclub.co.uk/ or on Facebook.

Here are some of the images from the day, along with a snapshot of most of the vehicles that attended the meet.

Here’s the members, friends and family who gathered for the meet. Click here for high-res image.

A compilation of the members vehicles who attended the meet.

And afterwards some fun with a RC drifter car.

The Khoro takes place in either the first or the very last week of the 7th month of preganancy, and must be on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday.
The ceremony only happens for the first child to be born to the mother.

Here are some pictures from that lovely day.

I know a number of you have been waiting ever-so patiently for your prints to arrive. I offered 4×6, 5×7 and 6×8 prints on the day.

As a token of good will (due to the delay) I have upgraded everyone who bought a portrait of themselves at the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity Dinner & Dance, to the largest 8×10 format that was not available on the day. AND I’ve even mounted them in wooden frames with glass fronts! I really hope this makes up a little bit for the delay, which I am really, very sorry about.

Before I give them all out, here’s what they look like:

In case you wondered or are interested, an online shopping cart facility will be available through this site very soon.

My friend, Kunaal Makwana, will be running, in an effort to raise money for one of the many charities he so passionately supports. He has chosen Bowel Cancer UK for this half-marathon.
He has dedicate the last 8 months of his time training for this event, as he builds up to run a full marathon in 2010.

Let us all wish him the best of luck in his first run.

To find out more information about this event click here

Don’t blink, each image isn’t on the screen for very long!!

(Please note: This video contains flashing images and fast motion which may not be suitable for individuals suffering from epilepsy)
Watch this video in Full HD 1080p on my Vimeo Channel

Initially, the venue had been booked to seat 200 people, but as the tickets were sold out in under 48 hours the organisers had to quickly respond to the massive interest and stretch the venue capability to it’s bursting limit of 350. All tickets were all sold out in less than 10 days, for what was to be one of the best fund raising parties of the year.

- The catering and decoration were all taken care of by the venue staff at Masti and organisers (the Shah family)
- The videography was provided by the guys at Zee TV, for their regular Sunday morning slot show ‘Out & About‘ – the local community show.
- Secondary videography and entertainment was provided by the guys at the BBC, for their hit series ‘The Real Hustle‘.
- and last but not least, the photography was provided by yours truly, Niraj Popat.

Who are they?? Well…

The Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity is a registered UK charity, that raises funds through all types of events, to continually recycle, renew and implement new and inventive ways to take care of sick children. The charity needs at least £50m every year, for these works to reliably and effectively continue supporting children and parents each and every day. You can read more about what they do, and how they do acheive their goals by visiting their website.

Masti Banqueting, is a newly refurbished venue in Wembley, Middlesex (North West London), created by the driving force of their hugely successful bar and restaurant entrepreneurs. The venue has been designed with the state-of-the-art lighting, sound, and visual technology, to provide a stunning backdrop to all types of events where people are invited to enjoy themselves. They have a large kitchen that caters for the guests to the venue.

Zee TV, as most will be aware, is a Satellite broadcast TV channel, for the Asian population. They cover all sorts, from fiction, game shows, reality tv, good living, through to non-fiction. The elder Asian generation appear to be (from my experience) addicted to these channels, and captures a large volume of viewers each and every week. The ‘Out & About’ show, is filmed  throughout the UK, to allow the couch potatoes, to keep up with what’s going on in and around the local Asian communities. The Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity – Dinner and Dance, was broadcast on Zee TV on the 19th of April 2009.

The BBC is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world. Its mission is to enrich people’s lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain. It is a public service broadcaster, established by a Royal Charter and funded by the licence fee that is paid by UK households.

The Real Hustle is a factual entertainment series produced by Objective Productions for BBC Three. It features a team of hustlers – Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement – as they try out some notorious scams on members of the public, filmed with hidden cameras. The aim is to reveal how scams work so that the viewer can avoid being ripped off by the same con. The participants featured in The Real Hustle have either been set up by their family and friends or believe that they are participating in another television programme. After they have been hustled for real any monies or property taken during the hustle are returned to them and their consent for the item to be broadcast is obtained. (as stated on their webpage)

The Real Hustle, were invited to the Dinner and Dance, to provide entertainment for the guests in such a way that they were secretly able to raise a phenomenal amount of money for the charity.
I’m not going to give away how this was acheived, because it will all be on their show which is due to be aired on BBC Three this month August 2009.
There’s a few images on here, that will relate to the show, and all will make alot more sense when you watch it!!

Oh and the photographer… that was me

I thought It would be nice to share some of the photo’s from the evening, so here they are.

For those who are awaiting their printed images, they will be in the post in the next week or so.
(I hope you can accept my sincerest apologies for the extreme delay it’s taken me to get these organised, rest assured, they have not been forgotten).

Here are a few images from the day: