Holi Ke Hindi Bol…. First of its Kind

By Swapan Dhairyawan
HOUSTON: International Hindi Association (IHA) Houston Chapter held its first event of the year 2014 on Sunday, March 2, at the JVB Preksha Meditation Center by celebrating the traditional Holi, Festival of colors with Hindi poetry recitation on the theme of Holi. This event which was conceptualized by Swapan Dhairyawan, received accolades and strong support from Hindi lovers.
The event was coordinated by Sarita Mehta, a Lecturer of Hindi at the Rice University and Dinesh Singhal, a practicing accomplished Attorney at Law. They both planned and meticulously presented this Event which included 15 participants from the local Houston community. These poets had their own creations of poetry which were themed on Holi through different moods like Hasya, Vyang, Bhakti, Karuna and Shringaar. The participants were Om Gupta, Saroj Gupta, Nausha Asrar, Dr. K D Upadhyaya, Arun Prakash, Sanjay Sohoni, Krishan Sharma, Uma Aggarwal, Sarita Mehta, Khalid Razvi, Devika Dhruv, Pravina Kadakia, Sunita Bhambani, Dr. Suresh Moonat and Sangeeta Pasrija.

The program was held in the pyramid hall of the JVB Center and attracted 140 plus audience. The program started with the introduction of Holi by Dinesh Singhal and was followed by welcome address by the Chapter President Swapan Dhairyawan. He updated the current activities of IHA which include online Gunjan magazine and the upcoming Hasya Kavi Sammellan on May 3 at India House. He recognized the entire Core Committee members who have been enthusiastically working for the cause of Raj Bhasha Hindi. This was followed by the Deep Prajvalan. It was done by the kids ages 5 to 9. These kids Aditri, Eesha, Arjun, Rohan, Aayan and Tanvi then sang a Holi welcome song in Hindi written by Sarita Mehta. This was appreciated by the audience. Thereafter Pramod Bengani, Ambassador Community Outreach for JVB spoke about the activities at JVB.
“ Bura naa Mano Holi hai” resonated the entire time and yet all the participants had their clear and clean message on the occasion of Holi. The event was a non stop marathon of 15 poets who recited beautifully and got continuous applause from the audience. The introduction of every poet was related with their background state/ province and the Emcee Sarita thrilled the audience by giving the anecdotes of how Holi is celebrated in those regions. The poets backgrounds were varied and they came from nearly 8 different states of India.
The program ended with the vote of thanks from Swapan Dhairyawan. The IHA Executive Committee also recognized the efforts, by giving momentoes to the Event Coordinators Sarita Mehta, Dinesh Singhal and the Partnering organizations JVB and India Culture Center for their continuous support to the Hindi cause.
Light refreshments and delicious Thandai was served to all the attendees. The core committee of IHA was instrumental in serving the snacks in a very homely ambience.
For further information about the organization and events call 281 3820348 or email at info.ihahouston@gmail.com