India is the land of the Mother.  Early man discovered that the divinity in the universe is deposited in the manifestation of the feminine beauty, compassion, tolerance and care.  Indian sages declared that the most important person who counts in one’s life is one’s mother.  A mother’s blessing is the passport to one’s success.  Friends and other relative may disappear but the mother stands by…

We love the mother’s voice; we can hear it wherever we are.  The mother’s voice gives us security and strength. Mother’s language is love, her grammar is her care.  Occasionally she expresses herself in words.  She sings lullabies to her children.  Sometimes she creates the tunes. Her words are heart-felt.  They speak of her inner joy.

Mothers educate themselves; they study with friends and family.  They teach morals to their children.  Children pass the instructions to their children, so the society evolves.  Mothers are the makers of the society.  Mothers carry on the tacit obligation to sustain the universe.  Every life in the universe is sustained by a caring mother.  Nature transforms her resources in the bounty of the mother.

The group South Asian Poets of New England (SAPNE) would like to invite all poets, mothers and the youth to a recitation event entitled “Voice of the Mothers and the Youth,” scheduled to be held at Burlington Public Library on Saturday, March 5, 2016, 2 PM.

Any literary material either in prose or poetry can be read in any language.  The event celebrates the voice, the spirit and the strength of the mothers.  Along with the mothers, the forum would be open to all youth to recite literature either learned from the mother or cultivated through own efforts.

Here is a poem entitled “Woman Work” by the American poet Maya Angelou:

I've got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I've got shirts to press
The tots to dress
The can to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.
Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
'Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You're all that I can call my own.

All are invited to the event.
Please contact any of the following to participate:
Maya De mayade@msn.com  617-945-7757
Sunayana Kachroo sunayanakb@gmail.com  
Chandrika Govardhan cgovardhan@yahoo.com  339-223-5620
Sanjeev Tripathi sanjeevkt@hotmail.com 781-248-0591.
Chandu Shah chandu420@gmail.com 781.983.4941
Bijoy Misra  misra.bijoy@gmail.com 781-259-0029

The event is sponsored by India Discovery Center, Inc.

About SAPNE

SAPNE is a new group called South Asian Poets of New England (SAPNE) has started as an offspring of Harvard Annual Poetry meets. It convenes quarterly as a poetry reading group to listen to languages and voices. More than forty poets from various regions in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are actively writing and participating in recitations in New England Area. You can join the group, (www.sapne.us)

About India Discovery Center:

“India Discovery Center,” a US 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is planned to be a hands-on interactive Museum and Education Center that is designed to encapsulate the evolution of culture, society and economy in India over the millennia.  First of its kind in the USA, the Center is envisioned to celebrate India’s traditions and customs, her contributions to the world and her evolving identity in philosophy, religions, literature, language and art. 

Directions to Burlington Public Library for

Saturday, Saturday, March 5^th, 2016, 2 PM.
http://www.mapquest.com/us/ma-282093975

To get to the Library, take Route 128 (I-95) north or south to Exit 33, and turn at the end of the ramp onto Rte. 3A north.  Pass 2 traffic lights, and turn right at the third traffic light onto Bedford Street. Take your first left onto Center Street, and the first right after that onto Sears Street, just past the beige clapboard Police Station.  The Library is a modern brick structure with parking available on three sides of the building.

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