Gujarati Sahitya Sarita, Launch of a Book: ‘Smriti Sampada’

HOUSTON: A recently published book ‘Smriti Sampada’ (Treasure of Memories) was launched by Gujarati Sahitya Sarita (GSS) Houston on 27th April, 2024 at Sri Sharadamba Temple Auditorium.

More than 165 literature-lovers spent the evening to celebrate the public dedication (Lockarpana) of this book.  The event was attended by 10 co-authors (out of 15) who travelled to Houston from all corners of the USA. The book was released by Panna Naik, a respected poetess popularly known as ‘Videshini’. The special guest was Kishore Desai; an enterprising publisher who has published a quarterly in America called ‘Gurjari Digest’ for last 38 years. He published this book in collaboration with ‘Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust’, a well-recognized publisher and promoter of Gujarati literary work in India.

Indian diaspora, who migrated from Gujarat – India, have presented stories of their trials and tribulations in a foreign (USA) land as their biographies. The stories describe their experiences, struggles and adventures while achieving their goals. Seeds of the character they developed during these experiences have spread across the vast seas from the land of Gujarat to America which will greatly motivate generations of Indians to come, all over the world. Six of the 15 authors of the book are Houston residents, and some of them have been associated with GSS for years. The authors include widely recognized academician, administrator, author, economist, engineer, entrepreneur, medical doctor, scientist and professionals from many other fields.

The program started with Saraswati Vandana by Shrimati Jyotsana Ved followed by a warm welcome to all by the GSS president Nikhil Mehta. A beautiful Lamp-dance was performed by the GSS member ladies of the local Gujarati community under the direction of Uma Nagarsheth, a well-known choreographer and dancer from Sugar Land.  The song is written by poet Dalpat Padhiyar and sung by Jalpa Joshi which started with the line: “I kept the lamp on the threshold of my home and my home was filled with light…“and the last line of the song was “I understood the letter which was hidden in the darkness under the light of that lamp.”

The editor of the book Rekha Sindhal introduced the guests and invited writers to share their perception about the book.  The speakers included Preeti Shah Sengupta from Fl., Dr. Natwar Gandhi from Washington DC, Rekha Sindhal from Tennessee, Sapna Vijapura from California, Jagdish Patel Nevada; Dr. Kamlesh Lulla of NASA Houston, Saryu Parikh from Austin, Devika Dhruv, Dr. Arvind Thekdi and Mansukh Vaghela all three from Houston intrigued the audience. Special Guest Panna Naik and Kishore Desai also addressed the gathering. Messages from Authors of ‘Smriti Sampada’ who could not attend the dedication, Dr. Indubahen Shah (Houston), Dr. Jayant Mehta (Nashville), Dr. Babu Suthar (Pennsylvania), Dr. Dinesh Shah (Florida) and Shri Ashok Vidwans (New Jersey) were read out by Nikhil Mehta.

The guests were honored with a certificate of appreciation from Gujarati Sahitya Sarita, Houston.  Appreciation gifts were given to all guests, participants, volunteers and donors of the organization, which included rare picture of the ‘Rise of the Earth from the Moon’ from Dr. Kamlesh Lulla.

Following this, a ‘Sherakshari’ was presented which was greeted with thunderous applause by the audience. Theme was Gujarat and was organized by Devika Dhruv.

Riddhi Desai gave the vote of thanks and the literary evening came to an end.

The program was concluded with a delicious meal.  The attendees expressed their gratitude to the organizers for organizing the event and making the book available to the local Indian community. The copies of the book were available but were all sold out and can be requested from the Editor Rekha Sindhal or the Publisher Kishore Desai. Please contact Nikhil Mehta @ 832.660.8008 (Email: itsgodsworld@yahoo.com) if anyone would like to receive the copy of the book.