“Connections” is the theme for the 16^th biennial convention of the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal (BMM) in Providence, RI (http://www.bmm2013.org)

Nearly four thousand members of the Marathi speaking community are expected to gather together on July 5 at Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence Rhode Island to attend the 3-day long sixteenth biennial Brihan Maharashtra Mandal (BMM) convention.  Brihan Maharashtra Mandal is a not-for-profit organization of the USA whose mission is to promote and nurture the Marathi culture through its arts, literature, and language and to provide a communication network for the people of Maharashtra.  New England Marathi Mandal (NEMM), a local not-for-profit volunteer driven organization of compatriots from Maharashtra is driving the effort this year for the BMM.  The convention is aiming to attract thousands of delegates from across North America as well as from India and from other parts of the world to strengthen their ties with the Marathi language, the culture and people.   In addition to offering several cultural programs by North American and Indian artists, actors and musicians, BMM is also organizing a Healthcare Conference, Business Conference and Indo-US Educators Summit that will take place along with the cultural events. 
                         

This year’s BMM convention activities (BMM 2013) are centered around the theme of “Connections” or “ऋणानुबंध” to advance the culture, language, and arts of Maharashtra and of India.   The convention will connect East to the West and hopes to build bridges with the larger Indian community through cultural, business and academic exchanges.  The programs are intended for all ages, including for kids and youth.  Youth programming will include attractive day-time and night-time events such as Snehabandhan, Speed-dating and social outings in the evenings. 

Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, the former Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan and Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar awards will be attending the conference along with Dr. Bal Phondke renowned scientist, author and former Science Editor of Times of India, and Chief Editor of CSIR Research Journal will deliver the keynote address.

It is the tradition of the BMM Conventions to host business conference, continuing medical education conference, and the expo. For the first time, BMM is offering the business conference at no extra cost to the interested attendees to provide the entrepreneurial spirits a forum to build the important networks and to renew the creative links to succeed in the globalized economy. For the first time in the BMM Conventions’ history, BMM is also organizing a College Conference to showcase various growth and developmental opportunities for the younger generation in the community to help expand its horizons.

Culture and Arts:

Among many other programs, this convention will feature a first ever a first ever North American Marathi music competition BMM SaReGaMa 2013 with a grand finale during the convention. Convention attendees will enjoy an evening of musical extravaganza through the splendid performances of the 6 finalists.  The anchors of the show are celebrated Marathi Artists: Prashant Damle and Priya Bapat. Kamalesh Bhadkamkar will provide musical coordination for the event. The six finalists were chosen after a fierce competition during the preliminary rounds that have been held in 13 locations across North America.

Business Conference

Innovation, entrepreneurship, IT, sustainability are some of the topics that will be discussed during business conference sessions. Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, Pramod Chaudhari, CEO Praj Industries, TIE CM Pam Randhwa, Brown University Professor Elizabeth Wheeler, Nobel Laureate Robert Grubbs and many more are actively participating as speakers and panelists.

Healthcare conference including Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses

Harvard Medical Prof. Dr. Vikas Sukhatme, Dr. Namrata Patil, MD of Brigham and Women's Hospital, and many other esteemed medical professionals will be delivering lectures at Healthcare Conference and also provide an opportunity to get continuing medical education (CME) credits for practicing doctors.

Indo-US Educators’ Summit

Finally, Indo-US educators summit is aimed to generate dialogue and potential collaborations between Indian educational Institutions and US based Universities. Brown University, Northeastern University, are sponsoring local events at Providence, RI and Boston, MA.  Faculties from MIT, Harvard, Penn State, and many other universities are participating in this conference.   Several faculties and senior administration of colleges from Pune and Mumbai are going to join this event.  

Food:

A great attraction for the Indian food lovers will be the traditional Marathi vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies from various regions of Maharashtra including the interior "Desh", the "Konkan" coastline overlooking the vast expanse of the Arabian Sea and the urbanized blend of traditional & the contemporary from cities in Maharashtra.

For more information and registration please visit www.bmm2013.org.

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