MP Mitra Mandal’s Annual Dal-Baati fun Picnic Sets New Bar

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Photos: Navin Mediwala

HOUSTON: Madhya Pradesh Mitra Mandal (MPMM) organized its Annual Dal-Baati Picnic on Sunday, Oct 16, at Bear Creek Park, in Houston, Texas.  This day long picnic was attended by record 300 people who enjoyed delicious Dal-Baati and Poha-Jalebi which were prepared at the park.

Day started with ever favorite Poha-Sev-Jiraman-Jalebi. Special FedEx shipment of Ratlami Sev arrived from Indore in time to give everyone authentic taste. Everyone enjoyed charcoal grill cooked dal-baati – a specialty dish, prepared by attendees, which was followed by Masala Chai.

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Kids and adults equally participated in cultural programs by dancing on catchy Bollywood numbers, performing Ganesh Vandana, and singing karaoke on English and Hindi songs to entertain the crowd. Everyone enjoyed playing Tambola and prizes included gold coins sponsored by Chemanur Jewelers.  New families were introduced in a fun way; exciting games were also played for audience to get involved. This event provided excellent platform for family entertainment and sumptuous food delicacies. An impromptu jaykara of Maa Durga added the festive mood and colors of spirituality to the event.

Along with all mauj-masti and food, everyone played Cricket, Basketball, Volleyball and other games.  Kids enjoyed having fun with balloon artist sponsored by Amiralli Dodhiya of New York Life, playing Piñata game and parading in the Halloween Costume contest.

This event was organized by Ashish & Pallavi Jain, Gagan & Shilpa Pandey, Manish & Richa Sharma, Pradeep & Pooja Jain, Aashish & Kuntal Mahoday, Nikhil & Ritu Jain, Ashish & Jyoti Bhandari and several other volunteers who pitched in with their efforts on picnic day. Their planning, hard work and execution made this picnic set a new bar in wholesome family entertainment.  Big thank you to all the volunteers and to Navin Mediwala for capturing stunning images of this picnic. The group also appreciated the support of event sponsors Jhanvi Thakar, Govind & Renu Agrawal and Rahul Vijaywargiya.

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For the past few years, response to MPMM picnic has been so overwhelming that RSVP is closed few weeks before the event, to ensure that picnic is managed well by the volunteers.

MP Mitra Mandal is an informal community group made up of people who come from Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh states and reside in Houston area. These states reflect “unity in diversity” in true sense which is visible amongst the people who attend MPMM events in Houston.  The group was started in Houston in 2001 by Ashish Bhandari & Nikhil Jain and has now grown to over 300+ families belonging to various cities like Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Bilaspur, Raipur, Gwalior, Bhilai etc.

More details are available at http://www.mp.aajausa.com.

Its events have been covered by various media groups in Houston as well as in leading news media in Madhya Pradesh in the past.