Hasya Kavi Sammelan Poets Entertain, Enlighten
By Pramod Kulkarni
Last Updated: April 11 2009
The Hasya Kavi Sammelan featured Hindi poets who entertained the house-full audience with their jokes and also
enlightened them through commentaries on politics and societal inequities
HOUSTON: A capacity audience originally from India’s Hindi heartland, along with a sprinkling of Maharashtrians, Gujaratis and even South Indians, gathered at the Shri Radhakrishna Temple hall on Friday evening, anticipating to laugh their heart out.
The audience’s expectations were largely fulfilled. There were a lot jokes, jovial bantering, and even heartfelt poetry.
Sangeeta Pasrija, the prime mover behind the Hasya Kavi Sammelan in Houston, welcomed the guests, including Deputy Counsel General Sharma and his family and Dr. Nandlal Singh, preident of the International Hindi Samiti based in Dallas.
Pasrija thanked the India Culture Center for their sponsorship by saying, “The ICC not only helps us celebrate festivals, such as Holi, Diwali and Navaratri, but through the sponsorship of events such as the Kavi Sammelan and Vishwa Hindi Diwas, helps keep alive our Indian culture.”
For the Hasya poets, the Houston event was their first performance in the course of a 14-city tour through the United States and Canada. The three poets consisted of Manjit Singh, the principal of a Senior High School in Faridabad, Haryana. Manjit Singh has several humor books and VCDs to his credit. Dr. Surendra Dubey has also written several humor and poetry books. This is his second trip to the U.S. A native of Chhatisgarh, he serves as a overment secretary to the Chief Minister. Rajendra Rajan is a singer and poet on his first visit to the U.S.
Manjit Sigh serves as the compere. He said it was appropriate that he should follow Sangeeta Pasrija on stage, because it would be in keeping with the current tradition exemplified by Dr. Manmohan Singh, another Sikh, following Sonia Gandhi.
Manjit Singh also made a few jokes at the expense of his colleaue, Dr. Dubey, who has a dark complexion. “Since you Americans elected Barak Obama as president, it is incument on us Indians to elect Dr. Dubey to a high political position as well.”
Dr. Dubey responded in kind to Manjit Singh. “I only respond to criticism from human beings.” Dr. Dubey poked fun at himself as well. “When I was about to get married, my father sent my photo to the prospective bride’s family. The family responded by asking why they sent a negative.”
The third poet, Rajendra Rajan, was a singing poet, who specialized in social satire and tried to awaken the audience to the tragic plight of women in the Indian culture.”
The committee of volunteers, who helped make the kavi sammelan a success, included ICC Vice President Swapan Dhairyawan, Bobby Singh, Renu Sood, Rafi Ahmed, Rajiv Bhavsar, Rafi Ahmed, and Rita Talwar.
Dr. Nandlal Singh informed the audience about the mission of the International Hindi Samiti (IHS). IHS is a non-profit association devoted to encouraging the teaching of Hindi is various educational institutions, publication of Hindi books and newsletters, and sponsor Hindi-based literary events such as the Kavi Sammelan.
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