Dhanyawaad from all Hindi Lovers for a Year of Fulfilling Events

Back row (from left): Dr KD Upadhyaya, Rajiv Bhavsar, Ajit Patel, Dinesh Singhal, Sanjay Sohoni, Swapan Dhairyawan, Fatehali Chatur, Jasmeeta Singh, Khalid Razvi, Dr. Nausha Asrar.Front row (from left): Nisha Mirani, Saroj Gupta, Sangeeta Pasrija, Abha Dwivedi, Subash Gupta, Meera Kapur, Sarita Mehta, Navin Banker, Devika Dhruv, Kishen Sharma, Dr Anant Desai, Rajendra Prasad, Sangita Bhutada, Arun Prakash and Vijay Pallod (not in the picture).

Back row (from left): Dr KD Upadhyaya, Rajiv Bhavsar, Ajit Patel, Dinesh Singhal, Sanjay Sohoni, Swapan Dhairyawan, Fatehali Chatur, Jasmeeta Singh, Khalid Razvi, Dr. Nausha Asrar.
Front row (from left): Nisha Mirani, Saroj Gupta, Sangeeta Pasrija, Abha Dwivedi, Subash Gupta, Meera Kapur, Sarita Mehta, Navin Banker, Devika Dhruv, Kishen Sharma, Dr Anant Desai, Rajendra Prasad, Sangita Bhutada, Arun Prakash and Vijay Pallod (not in the picture).

By Swapan Dhairyawan
SUGAR LAND: Hindi lovers had a hat trick in 2013. A successful Hasya Kavi Sammellan of Shri Kunwar Bechain in April, a National Adhiveshan in September and finally the Kavita ki Shaam this past Friday, December 13.
There were thoughts whether to do this event or not, but in keeping with the tradition of a December celebration for Hindi Diwas, we have accomplished our goal.  The three hour event was sold out with about 120 persons attending including 14 poets and the audience sat glued listening to one poet after the other.

Sangeeta Pasrija with Swapan Dhairyawan.

Sangeeta Pasrija with Swapan Dhairyawan.

Abha Dwivedi’s quick wit and seamless emceeing was fabulous, including entertaining the audience with “Mein jhooth nahi bolta”. Dr. Upadhyaya started with a Big Bang and immediately made the audience comfortable by his mix of words, Hasya, vyang and the Veer Ras Kavita of Maharana Pratap. He is a strong pillar of our organization and full of mirth and enthusiasm and fond of saying “paisa vasool”.

Dr. Nausha Asrar

Dr. Nausha Asrar

Sarita Mehta followed him with her beautiful kavita “dharti se ambar tak”. She did a marvelous job but even more marvelous was her first time driving at night from West University to Sugarland just for the passion of Hindi.
Navin Banker followed her with a kavita on the current situation of Draupadis to gather courage against the Dushasans of current day and not wait for Gopal for assistance. It was the first time for him to be on the IHA stage. Meera Kapur followed him with kavitas written by her late Dad Mr. Khanna on Ahimsa and Yoga which she rendered wonderfully.

Fatehali Chatur

Fatehali Chatur

She was followed by Dr. Nausha Asrar who is truly a professional in the way he rendered a couple of Dohas followed by Sanaata and a Ghazal, all of which kept the audience captivated. He has participated at mushairas and at Kavi Sammellans, and the way in which he switches between Urdu and Hindi is indeed brilliant.
He was followed by Rajendra Prasad, a geologist and a Houstonian for long years who read his own poems and was applauded by all for his creations. He is from Bihar and delivered an eloquent poem on his memories as a child in a village near Patna. He was followed by another geologist Khalid Rizvi who comes from Hyderabad, India and is a Houstonian for long years..
Arun Prakash, a pioneer for the IHA cause in Houston followed him, reading his own kavita called Patni Chalisa which was just hilarious. He was followed by Devika Dhruv who read her own Hasya Ras Kavita rendering it beautifully. She supports IHA through the Gujarati Sahitya Sarita group which she represents.
She was followed by Jasmeeta Singh who delivered a beautiful and stirring kavita on the importance of Hindi on this Hindi divas day. She continued to sing a soulful Ghulam Ali ghazal.
Fatehali Chatur followed to render the beautiful poem Tamasha by Ashok Chakradhar. He was totally into the spirit of this poetry and spoke gracefully on Pluralism.
He was followed by Kishen Sharma, an engineer by profession but teaching Hindi since 1992 in Houston. He read his own works. He was followed by none other than our own Sangeeta Pasrija who is passionate about the Hindi cause . She delivered her favorite kavita by Kunwar Bechain.
The final curtain call was by Dr. Anant Desai, also an engineer and been an avivid Bollywood music follower. He rendered different classical songs with ragdhari meanings for Hindi cause in his melodious voice.
All the artists and the emcee were felicitated by the IHA Executive Committee with the plaques was presented by Subash Gupta, a senior community leader who is involved in Ekal Vidyalaya and Hindu Swyamsewak Sangh.
The event was sponsored by Madras Pavillion for the venue and food, Darshak Thakkar for sound and PA system, Gautam Jani for the coverage for TV Asia. Three local organizations Maheshwari Mahasabha, Indian Muslim Association of Greater Houston and Gujarati Sahitya Sarita also supported and spread the word out to their memberships. Others who worked hard on this were: Mayuresh and Hriday Bhutada; quick podium arrangements by Rajiv Bhavsar; registration and ticketing by Sanjay and Varun; and decoration and ticketing assistance by Eesha.