Maheshwari Mahasabha of North America Celebrates ‘Virtual Utsav 2020’
MMNA celebrated a virtual Utsav over the 3 weekends, starting from October 11, 2020 during the festive season of Navratri. These three Sunday evenings consisted of thrilling and entertaining performances.
After the opening remarks by Utsav Sootradhar – Jitendra Muchhal, MMNA President – Vikas Bhutada provided the context of celebrating the Utsav and keeping the community connected, especially more so in these pandemic times. Day1 event included a 2-hour virtual ‘Hasya Kavi Sammelan’ that was attended by 600+ members.
With a melodious Ganesh vandana, the MCs Archana Panda and Prashant Jhanwar started off the evening in their hilarious style and kept the audience totally engaged. Hasya Kavi Dr. Kamlesh Dwivedi, Padmashri Dr. Sunil Jogi and Archana Pandya kept the audience laughing and entertained.
The event coordination was very well done by MMNA’s Silicon valley Chapter President, Swapnil Laddha.
Day2 event titled ‘Maha Trivia with Maha Sabha and Ravi Drums’ was another fun-filled evening. Utsav Sootradhar – Abhilasha Rathi welcomed the audience and introduced the Chair for MMNA-RAYS (Rajasthani Abroad Youth Samaj) – Sarika Malani.
The RAYS team coordinated the program and engaged the audience in playing an ethnic Rajasthani Trivia in several virtual breakout rooms. It was a unique experience for several members of all age groups.
This was followed by a very entertaining program by the famous Hollywood Sensation – Ravi Drums! Ravi’s virtual performance with drums mesmerized the audience and got them off the chairs and in the dancing mode.
It was a sensational feeling as 600+ members virtually enjoyed as if they were present in an auditorium. Members expressed a lot of happiness with the proceedings of these virtual sessions: “We neither had to prepare any clothes, nor pack any bags, nor get on the plane to the place of a convention but still we had a similar experience / feeling of a real convention”, by participating right from our own homes. “We could meet several of our friends and relatives virtually, just in the last 2 hours”.
The Day3 event was titled ‘Vijaya Dashami Celebration with Ek Shaam Aapke Naam’ and was attended by 1,000 members and lasted for 4.5 hours in the virtual mode. This was a record-breaking event for MMNA in terms of the attendance and the duration. The event started with a welcome by the ‘Sootradhar’ Jitendra Mucchal. Vikas Bhutada, MMNA President wished Happy Dussehra to all the members. He thanked the MMNA-Sakhi team Chair & Co-Chair Vandana Daga & Yogita Sarada for putting in their best to bring such an entertaining evening for the members.
It started with performances of MMNA community members from all the 9 chapters across the US & Canada. The theme of the evening was ‘emotions & feelings’.
The audience members were encouraged to dress in their best ethnic attire. MMNA team presented an eye-catching audio-visual titled ‘Golden Snippets 2016-2020’ covering a synopsis of multitude of their activities and significant projects undertaken by different teams during their term of these 4 years.
Several MMNA members of the Board Of Trustees, National Executive Committee and Utsav volunteers were recognized during the event. Dr. Ghanshyam Heda, BOT Chair was recognized for receiving multiple awards / scholarships including the prestigious Fulbright award for Education.
A video message sent by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, complementing the community on their efforts to connect and contribute during these difficult times, was also played for the audience. This was followed by a thrilling, mesmerizing and power-packed virtual live performance by the famous ‘Dhwani’ Trio from Kolkata, India.
The audience of all ages was totally engaged in singing along & dancing with the stars of Dhwani. It was a memorable evening to watch – with so many smiles, amazing colorful ethnic Rajasthani costumes and a beautiful family environment.
The audience was ecstatic with joy and celebration. This was followed by a Live ‘Raavan – Dahan’ from California from home of Prashant Maloo – who made the 10 Headed Ravan Effigy with sword – which was then confined to flames by Shri Ram.
Contributions of Poonam Bhutada, Amit Somani, Shruti Soni, Surekha Soni, Anurag Soni, MCs Neha Rathi and Yogita Miharia were also exemplary in the entire Utsav series.
The whole Utsav programs came to life due to superb use of technology and interactivity.
MMNA was founded in 1983 with the purpose of preserving its rich Rajasthani Maheshwari culture and heritage, while the community continued to grow in America.
MMNA helps bridge that gap and also promotes togetherness and social welfare through its platform of 4,000 individual members in 10 chapters. MMNA also helps the community to come together and make a difference in the local communities through multiple philanthropic activities.