India Association of Merrimack Valley(IAMV) celebrated Holi on April 9 at North Andover Middle School.  The event showcased artistic abilities of Indian American children from Merrimack Valley.

Sunita Malhotra, Cultural Secretary of IAMV was  the emcee for the program and  began the show by welcome speech.  The program included a variety of items ranging from classical music to latest hit bollywood songs.   It was good to see performers of all ages on the stage to entertain the crowd. All the participants were awarded trophies for their performance. 

Ankur Gupta, Kunnik Chaudhary, Rueben Philip, Meghna Iyer, Pooja Muddasani and Ria Sheril danced to "Are Ja Re Hat NatKhat" choreographed by Anshu Gupta. "Dhom Macha De" from the hit movie "Dhoom" was performed by Ishita Agarwal, Mithali Shenoi, Alicia Purnaik, Tanya Bhaskar, Aishwarya Agrawal and Nikita Bhaskar choreographed by Shweta Agrawal. "Dariya Kinare" was performed by Kunal Gala, Neel Shroff, Kedar Mishra, Tej Sheth, Keyal Gala, Prateek Gupta, Anusha Sen Gupta, Sanya Gupta, Mihika Sridhar and Ekta Patel can the dance was choreographed by Payal Sen Gupta. "It’s Magic" was choreographed by Devika Dhawan and performed by Devan Dhawan, Prakim Upadhayay, Akshay Grewal and Prashasti Upadhayay.  The all time classic "Mera Joota Hai Japani" was performed by Rohan Chaturvedi, Sajan Deol, Darshan Gove, Akesh Shah, Anjay Shah, Sayali Gove and Ritika Kommareddi and was choreographed by all their moms.

Sunita Malhotra choreographed a "Dance Medley", which was performed by Ashika Shah, Shivani Shat, Pooja Singh, Devika Ranjan, Natasha Camirand, Gauri Seth, and Arushi Ray. "Saiyyam", a Rajhasthani dance, was choreographed and performed by Devika Dhawan, Ananya SenGupta, Sujata Datta, Neha Grewal and Malvika Arya. "Dance Medley" from movies "Main Hoonn Na" and "Shakti" was choreographed by Shweta Garg and performed by Nidhi Garg and Shivangi Lohia. "Medley Mix" choreographed by Priya Heble and performed by Shefali Lohia, Priya Donti, Haritha  Pula, Diya Heble, Karen Mathew and Jasmini Patel. "Bhagra" choreographed by Rajit and Rohan Malhotra and performed by Raghav Seth, Shikhar Mehta, Heeren Jhaveri, Karan Jhaveri, Rajit and Rohan Malhotra. The final item "Holi Me Ude Gulal" was performed by Sonali, Kiran, Chandrika, Richa, Madhvi, Kiran, Payal, Amrita, Madhuri, Hemlata, Vinay, Sanjay and Rajeev.

The program concluded by handing out prizes to the participants of the Tsunami relief raffle.   The raffle was supported by IAMV and local businesses. Delicious dinner was served at the end of the cultural program.

“It is a very family oriented organization and promotes unity as a family and urges our kids to come forward and take pride in their Indian heritage and remember their roots by taking part in all the activities,” said Jagdish Garg, President, IAMV. In 2005, IAMV plans to organize a picnic, seminar, Diwali Party and Annual Meeting and Election.

A warm and welcoming atmosphere similar to Holi in India was prevalent throughout the evening.  The committee members deserve hearty congratulations for presenting a very well organized event. Information about IAMV can be found at http://www.iamv.org/

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