When Praveen Mishra and Valentino Almeida called us one day and said we would like to do a music show to honor Lokvani's 15th year, we were quite overwhelmed. One could not ask for a greater gift than for some of the finest musicians in New England to come together to put up a show for us. Here was an offer we could not turn down! The event "Kya Yahi Pyar Hai" took shape and was held on Oct. 4, 2015 at the Chinmaya Auditorium in Andover, MA. This specific event was sponsored by Sanjay Thakkar of New York Life, Bollywood Grill, and Godavari.
Once the concept was okayed, the team immediately went to work and created a musical program. Singers Valentino Almeida, Shraddha Agarwal, Nidhi Tare Lad, Rajiv Gangurde, Mohan Subramanium and Hemant Patkar took us on a journey down Bollywood's romantic lane with songs that fit beautifully into the theme of "Kya Yahi Pyar Hai".
As the concept evolved, Parveen Minocha and Meena Mehta went to work quickly to create a beautiful slide symbolizing the fifteen years of work. Their genius was apparent in the creation. Anita Shetty also used her creative decorative genius to create a lovely backdrop.
The event opened with a brief welcome by Harish Dang in his inimitable style. Opening with Dream Girl each song was rendered beautifully. The four of us at Lokvani shared the Lokvani journey. "Starting with just 30 subscribers over 15 years ago we now have over 50,000 subscribers to our magazine" said Anil Saigal.
Nirmala Garimella described the experience of doing a Lokvani story while Anoop Kumar described the Lokvani technology platform. I was so honored to share the impact Lokvani has had on the team members and on the community. We all could also feel the joyous spirit of the late Chitra Parayath who helped launch Lokvani and was the dynamite who helped take Lokvani to new heights in its early years. We could feel your lovely smile Chitra.
The highlight of the event was 90 year old Rani Nautiyal who decided to go up on stage with me to dance to the song Rageela re! She received a standing ovation. Puran Dang blessed the Lokvani team with kind words.
Volunteers Mallika Narayanan, Mahesh and Rekha Parliwala along with the spouses of the singers helped out tremendously.
It was a classy event filled with so much melody that it is moment the team will cherish forever.
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