Hasya Ras or laughter took centerstage at the Hindi Manch event when poets and dramatists filled the evening with their special presentations. The event was held on Saturday May7th, 2011 at the Diamond Middle School in Lexington MA. As the name suggests, Hindi Manch is a platform for people interested in the Hindi Language and Literature to celebrate its beauty. The event on May 7th was split into two parts.
 
The first half titled 'Bal Manch' was a talent showcase for children. The evening opened with a classical music presentation by Kumkum Sanyaal's group. This was followed by a musical presentation by students of Preeti Chakravarty. Other musical presentations included 'Bachon ki Geetmala' by Jyoti Sharma and a 'Swagat Geet' by students of Learnquest Academy of Music, Rasa Institute and Mrs Preeti Nagar. This item was coordinated by Suchita Rao. Anish Datey and Meena Sundaram's group presented lovely Hindi movie songs. A unique skit called 'Suitcase' written and directed  by Deepali Khanzode was a big hit. 'Aaisha Remix'was another Hindi skit presented by cute little kids delivering dialogues in Hindi, script and direction by Ruchika Arora. 'Bal Manch' show ended with a beautiful dance performance- 'Pal Bhar hai Bhari' by Bina Negandhi group followed by a solo dance number 'Chhan ke Mohalla' by Natasha Kumar. The two emcees of the show were Namita and Nikita.

Preetesh Shrivastava, the President and the force behind the Hindi Manch served as a delightful anchor for 'Ek Haseen Shaam Hasne Hasane ke Naam', combining great wit with his command of the Hindi language, he was the quintessential 'Sutradhar' who knit the program beautifully together. Sonali Yadav served as the announcer. Hasya Ras was central to the plays and poems presented by adults in the second half. Poetry recitation by Subash Sehgal, Ali Rizvi, Avinash Agrawal, Sridhar Pola, Shekar Shastri, Sudhanshu Mishra, mixed with humour and satire to entertain and shed light on important issues like corruption. Eshani Shah was delightful as a stand up comic. The evening had light hearted comic plays directed by veteran director Mohan Dali and Madhu Nene. 'Paagal' and 'Calendar ka Chakkar' were by Mohan Dali and 'Jabaan Sambhaal ke' by Madhu Nene and these hilarious comedy plays and their artists created space in audience's heart.

“It is the first time in Boston area that two such events were organized. We had more than 90 performers who performed for close to 6 hours and more than 300 people joined the event. Everyone enjoyed the program and went home with laughter filled memories. The credit goes to all artists and organizers. I am so proud of all of them.”,said Shrivastava. Chaitanya Godsay, Anish Khanzode, Pradeep Shukla, Jawed Wahid, Meena Sundaram, Saujanya Pangrekar, Ruchika Arora, were few of those people who ensured smooth flow of the event. The honored guests who lit the lamp were Kumkum Sanyal ji and  Triveni Upadhyay ji.

“This was the best program that I have seen in last 20 years in Boston”, “It was music to the ears to hear such good Hindi after years”, “I cannot believe that the people who acted in those three plays are not professionals”, “My husband who generally avoids cultural programs loved this one. He is telling his friends about how good this was and already waiting for the next Hindi Manch's program.”, “Thank you Hindi Manch!!!!”, were heard in the audience. We look forward to other such wonderful events in the future. It was truly “Ek Haseen Shaam Hasne Hasane ke Naam”.

Continuing its agenda to provide a forum for literary programs, drama and stage events, Hindi Manch will start its auditions on June 19 for the popular singing competition "NESaReGaMaPa" to be held on July 9.

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